Can't Make It Alone
by RosesandThorns666
Summary: When Elise Young decides leave Morgan and Duane to head to Atlanta with Rick, it becomes apparent that she's a lot tougher than she looks. As Rick is reunited with his family, Elise questions moving on by herself. But after being persuaded to stay at the camp, Elise finds that she has made the right choice when unexpected love comes her way. Please R&R!
1. The Stranger In The Street

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **My God! It's been so long since I updated or wrote anything. I love _The Walking Dead_! I read the first three graphic novels and I've started watching the show. It's truly amazing. This fic has five chapters written already so I will be writing more of this as soon as possible. I hope I do the show justice and I hope you all enjoy this fic! The title of this fic might be changing. I don't know if I'm happy with it but it seems that this title is the only one that suits the fic at this point.

Happy reading!

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**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter One: The Stranger In The Street**

The sound of a gunshot startled Elise Young as she was sharpening one of her two long knives.

It startled her enough to cause her to almost cut herself, and since she was hiding behind a bush out in the open, the sound was incredibly loud. Jumping to her feet, Elise ran out of her current safe haven, seeing fellow survivors Morgan and Duane talking to a man who was lying on his back on the ground, blood seeping from his nose. Duane stood holding a spade in his hand, which Elise assumed he had hit the man with. The poor guy only wore a hospital gown, causing all of them concern.

She'd stayed with Morgan and Duane pretty much since the beginning. They were her neighbours, and Morgan had known her since she was a little girl. She'd been with them at the start but when things got out of control in their neighbourhood, she ended up with her other neighbour John. Her experiences with him were far from pleasant. Then, she'd found Morgan and Duane again after three long weeks, and had been with them ever since. She trusted Morgan's judgement on most occasions, but shooting a gun in broad daylight at one walker was just a waste of a bullet, and it was like a beacon for the rest of the creeps.

Noticing the dressing on the man's left side, Elise felt dread and fear fill her system. Had he been bitten? Her blue eyes widened at the thought of a repeat of what had happened at the start of all this. Watching two people come back was enough. Elise didn't know if she could handle a third person going through the same.

"He bit?" She asked, causing Duane to jump a mile high.

"I dunno..." Morgan said quietly, "He passed out before he could tell me what this wound is. He's burning up though."

"You fired a gun. Not a smart move." Elise said with a shake of her head, moving past Duane and patting him on the shoulder, "We better get him to the house before more of the crazies show up, huh? If he turns, I'll put him down."

"My son doesn't need to see someone else turn." Morgan snapped, unable to hide the pain in his eyes that betrayed his angered look.

"This ain't up for discussion." Elise replied sharply, "I'm not willing to leave him out here when we don't know what this wound is."

Morgan stared at Elise for a few moments before scrubbing a hand over his face with a deep sigh. Elise arched an eyebrow at him, clenching her jaw and putting a closed fist to her mouth just for a second. She couldn't think of a more logical solution at that moment.

"If it's a bite, I'll put him down. I'll take him out back." She said, swallowing loudly, "I'm past the point of feeling guilty about putting 'em down, Morgan."

Morgan looked at her again, then at his son, and then back at the twenty-four year old. With another deep sigh and a nod, he moved to lift the man from the ground, and Elise didn't hesitate to help him.

* * *

"Elise?"

Tying her auburn curls into a messy bun, Elise hurried towards the bedroom where Duane and Morgan were keeping watch over the injured man. Pulling her dusky blue tank top down over the waistband of her tatty jeans, she entered the room, stopping in her tracks as the man began to wake. For a moment, understandably, he looked disoriented. He looked over to where Duane stood with a baseball bat, and watched as Elise gently put a comforting hand on his back, just to make sure he knew not to be scared.

"Got that bandage changed out. It was pretty rank." Morgan said quietly, looking at the confused man as he took off the gloves he'd been wearing, "What was? The wound?"

"Gun shot." The man answered, watching Morgan wipe his brow with a towel.

"Gun shot? What else? Anything?"

"Gun shot ain't enough?" The man replied quietly.

Morgan approached the bed, wiping his hands on the towel before pointing at the injured man in a threatening manner. With good reason too. It was bad enough having walkers roaming around outside the place, but the risk of them having a walker-to-be in their home was a whole lot worse.

"Look, I ask and you answer." Morgan snarled, "It's common courtesy, right?"

He leaned down so he was right over the wounded man before speaking again, slowly. Elise kept her hands on Duane's shoulders. The child seemed to relax slightly at this, and so she carefully began to rub small circles on his back.

"Did you get bit?" Morgan asked, causing the man to look even more confused.

"Bit?" He asked almost incredulously.

"Bit? Chewed?" Morgan asked, "Maybe scratched? Anything like that?"

Elise's left hand tightened almost painfully on Duane's shoulder, and the soothing circles she'd been rubbing between his shoulder blades stopped. She could barely breathe. If he'd been bitten, she would actually have to take him out back and kill him. She'd put walkers down before but killing a walker-to-be wasn't something she'd done often.

"No, I got shot." The man replied, "Just shot as far as I know."

Raising his hand to test the injured man's fever, Morgan saw him flinch away from him which made him feel a little uneasy.

"Hey...Just let me..." Morgan told him calmly, proceeding to touching his forehead.

He looked across at Duane and Elise, giving them a look that meant he was satisfied with what he was feeling. That caused both of them to relax.

"Feels cooler now." He told them, noticing Elise's shoulders sag with relief, "Fever would've killed you by now."

"I don't think I have one." The man answered.

"Be hard to miss." Morgan said, nodding his head slowly before looking to Elise and Duane again and pulling out his knife.

He held it up to the man's face menacingly, causing him to pull back a little in fear. Elise didn't like that. It made her feel angry. It was necessary, she knew. But that didn't mean she had to agree with it.

"Take a moment..." Morgan began, waving the blade in front of their guest's eyes, "Look how sharp it is. You try anything...I will kill you with it, and don't you think I won't."

With that he cut the man free from his bonds, and moved over to Elise and Duane, speaking softly to their injured guest as he approached them.

"Come on out when you're able."

With that he led the pair out of the room, leaving the man in peace. As they got into the living room, Elise turned to Morgan and ran her hand over her mouth, taking a deep breath.

"What do you think?" She asked, "He gonna be okay?"

"He'll be just fine." Morgan answered, looking at his son who was standing quietly, respectfully waiting for his dad's next order, "Why don't you go finish that comic book you started drawing. It's looking pretty good, huh?"

Duane nodded silently and walked away to get his drawings while Morgan headed to the kitchen with Elise. The young woman leaned against one of the kitchen counters, rubbing her hands over her eyes slowly.

"Were you really gonna take him out back and shoot him?" Morgan asked her, watching her nod her head silently.

"I've done it before. Killed a living person." She said quietly, "You know it doesn't bother me anymore, Morgan."

"Would you have used Anna?" He asked her, indicating the pink bow that sat in the corner.

Elise was the champion archer at her college and had been at school. Her bow, which was a very modern design, was named Anna. Elise named the bow after she'd won her first competition. Anna was the name of her archery teacher, so it seemed fitting to name the bow after her. Her arrows, which were all sorts of colours, sat next to the bow that was propped up carefully against the wall. Sighing again and nodding quietly, she answered Morgan's question.

"Probably. Even though it would've been the last thing I wanted to use her for." She whispered, "She would've been the quietest thing to use. At least I don't have to now, huh?"

Morgan nodded at her and smiled softly, his grin widening as her first instinct was to go and sit by his son. He stood and observed the pair for a few moments as Elise asked Duane questions about the story in his comic book before beginning his daily supply check.

* * *

When the man joined the trio later that evening, Morgan was just serving up dinner. As the man went into the living room, Elise sat with Duane and poured him a drink. It was night time and the street had become a hot spot for walkers. Elise knew it was that gun that brought them there, and she was still a little pissed at Morgan for not letting her deal with that one walker. She could've shot it from the bushes and hit it square between the eyes. There wouldn't be half of the walkers out there now if she'd done that.

"This place..." Their guest began, startling Elise out of her thoughts, "It's Fred and Cindy Drake's."

"We never met them." Elise said quietly, noticing how the man looked at her when she spoke.

A smoky voice was clearly the last thing he expected to come out of her mouth. Most people had that reaction to hearing her speak for the first time. Her voice was deep and soft, and her accent gave it a husky tone.

"I've been here." The man said quietly, moving towards the windows, "This is there place."

"It was empty when we got here." Elise replied, standing slowly to approach the man as he went to pull back the curtains, "Don't do that...They'll see the light."

The man looked at her quizzically.

"There's more of 'em out there than usual." Morgan said as he continued to prepare dinner, "I never should've fired that gun out there today. Sound draws 'em, now they're all over the street."

"You're damn right you shouldn't have fired that gun." Elise huffed out a soft laugh, "You've just made us their midnight snack."

"It all happened so fast, I just didn't think." Morgan said quietly, watching Elise rub his son's back affectionately as the man approached the table.

"You shot that man today." Their guest accused.

"Man." Morgan repeated with a smirk and a nod.

"Weren't no man." Duane said, hearing Elise clear her throat and looking to her as she pulled on her earlobe three times.

He rolled his eyes, knowing what was coming next. Typical Elise. She made him think of the Warden from the movie _Holes_ when she spoke the way she was going to at that moment. But Duane knew that when she talked like she was about to, it meant she wasn't happy, and that was rather scary.

"Excuse me?" She said with narrowed eyes, everyone hearing her accent get thicker for a moment, "What the hell was that out of your mouth just now?"

"It wasn't a man." Duane corrected, earning a nod from the woman next to him, who patted his left shoulder and gave him a small smile.

Yep. Just like the Warden.

"You shot him. In this street, out there, a man." The injured man said to Morgan.

"Friend, you need glasses." Morgan answered, "It was a walker. Come on..."

He indicated the chair between his and Elise's and started serving the man some of their meal. Beans. It wasn't much but it meant they wouldn't starve. That was a bonus at least.

"Sit down, before you fall down." Elise said softly, smiling kindly at the man and patting the seat next to her.

"Daddy? Blessing." Duane said, looking at his father as if he were nuts.

"Yeah." Morgan smiled at his boy and the man watched the group hold hands.

Elise smiled kindly again and held her hand out for him, which he took carefully in his own. She squeezed his hand reassuringly in her dainty fingers and bowed her head, closing her eyes.

"Father, we thank thee for this food...thy blessings." Morgan began, staring at their guest the whole time with wary eyes, "We ask you to watch over us in these crazy days. Amen."

"Amen." Elise whispered, only to hear Duane echo it.

As the group started eating, Elise looked across at Morgan, and then at the man at their table, who looked as if he hadn't eaten for weeks. It occurred to him that their guest had no idea what had happened. And if he woke up that day, he must've been in a coma since before the outbreak. He couldn't imagine the confusion the man was experiencing right now.

"Hey, mister...You even know what's going on?" Morgan asked, looking at the man with concern.

"I woke up today...in the hospital." The man answered, "Came home...That's all I know."

Morgan, Duane and Elise all shared looks of concern and worry at this response. He really had been out since before the 'Apocalypse'. Imagine, waking up to find that the world you'd known for so long was almost utterly destroyed. Damn... Elise felt more sympathy for this guy. Morgan did too. He'd mentioned the name 'Carl' when they first found him. Maybe he was looking for his family.

"But, you know about the dead people, right?" Elise asked, setting her spoon in her bowl and brushing a hand through her hair.

"Yeah, I saw a lot of that." The man replied, "Out on the loading dock, piled in trucks."

"No, not the ones they put down..." Elise said gently, "The ones they didn't. The walkers. Like the one Morgan shot today..."

"He'd have ripped into you. Tried to eat you." Morgan explained, "Take him some flesh at least. But I guess if this is the first you're hearing, I know how it must sound."

"They're out there now? In the street?" The man asked, watching Elise nod softly in response while Morgan's nodding was more enthusiastic.

"Yeah...They're more active after dark sometimes..." He explained, noticing that Elise had stopped eating, "Maybe its the cool air, or hell, maybe it's just me firing that gun today. But we'll be fine as long as we stay quiet."

"Yeah, they'll probably wander off by morning." Elise added, taking a deep breath and picking up her spoon again.

"Well, listen... One thing I do know... Don't you get bit!" Morgan warned, "We saw your bandage and that's what we were afraid of. Bites kill you."

"Yep. The fever... burns you out." Elise said darkly, swallowing a mouthful of food, "But then after a while... You come back."

As the man looked around the table, Elise heard Duane speak up and her eyes closed slowly at his words. This poor boy had already gone through enough, but he was so brave. Elise was proud of who he was becoming, and so was Morgan, even if he still did need the occasional telling off. Everyone noticed the way the man's expression changed at Duane's words, and they caused a chill to run down Elise's spine at the memory.

"Seen it happen."

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed! **

**Thanks for reading so far!**

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	2. Night Time

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Hey, guys! Thanks for reading this so far. I really hope you can give it a chance and continue to read it because I already have so many ideas in mind. I know the first chapter wasn't all that informative, but things will pick up and you will find out more about Elise as time goes on.

Happy reading!

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**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Two: Night Time**

Later in the evening, Duane had finally fallen asleep next to his dad.

Elise sat on the mattress next to their guest, and he watched her as she concentrated on mending an arrow beside him. Her fingers moved carefully but quickly, and he realised as he studied her hands that this task wasn't without it's accidents. Her hands were covered in small scars, obviously from where she'd cut herself while working. Once finished, she placed the mended arrow in her quiver and leaned back against the couch, watching Duane sleep peacefully. That young boy had already been through so much. Elise and Morgan were grateful he could sleep, even with the dead roaming around outside their new home.

"Carl...He your son?"

Morgan broke the silence that had lingered over the room for a while, and Elise looked up at their guest expectantly, drawing her knees up to her chest. Morgan had mentioned something about the man speaking. She'd been too annoyed about the gun to listen properly, though, so she was more than prepared to hear what had happened from the man next to her.

"You said his name today." Morgan spoke up again, watching the man's pained reaction to hearing the name in question.

"He's a little younger...Than your boy."

"And he's with his mother?" Elise asked softly, brow furrowed.

"I hope so." The man replied, his head turning back to Morgan when he heard Duane's voice.

"Dad?"

Morgan smiled, reaching out to touch his son's head lovingly. Their relationship was so strong and so special, it made Elise's heart ache. She realised she'd probably never have a bond like that with a child. Despite her inner turmoil, she smiled at the boy as he snuggled into the pillows a little, waiting for the inevitable question that Duane had been asking for most of the day.

"Did you ask him?"

She chuckled quietly and gave Morgan a warm smile, taking a drink from her water bottle which lay at the side of her. Duane was always a curious and imaginative child, with many bizarre, yet wonderful ideas. She waited expectantly for Morgan to speak, running a hand through her curled hair.

"Your gun shot..." Morgan began, "We got a little bet going...My boy says you're a...bank robber."

Elise giggled sweetly and the man beside her let out a warm chuckle. She wondered, if this man decided to make it on his own to go and look for his wife and kid, would he let her go with him? It wasn't anything against Morgan and Duane. She just wanted to move somewhere else. Somewhere that didn't draw the ghosts of their pasts to them every night. She didn't want to be confined any more. She wanted to go off in search of other survivors. She wanted to go and try and find some kind of answers to this epidemic.

"Yeah... That's me. Deadly as Dillinger. Kapow." The man replied, "Sheriff's deputy."

"Aha..." Morgan answered with a nod.

The group startled as a car alarm went off, and the man shrunk back in his seat when Elise pulled one of her knives out from beside her and moved behind the couch suddenly, almost cat like. She was on alert, wide-eyed and deadly silent. Morgan saw that the man was unnerved by this, but he hurried to calm his frightened son, who had shot up from bed in a wild panic.

"Hey, it's okay. Daddy's here." He said softly, putting soothing hands on Duane's shoulders.

"I bet one of them's just bumped a car." Elise explained, edging towards the window, "It's happened once before. Went off for a few minutes."

"Get the light, Duane." Morgan instructed, beginning to approach the window along with Elise and their guest.

All of them looked through the gap in the drapes carefully, watching the walkers as they wandered around the street. Elise had learned to longer view these things as people. They all needed shooting; it would be the kindest option. It was the only way they could ever be stopped. Elise wondered if a cure could ever be found for this. If she survived this whole thing, would she be one of the people responsible for having to get the world's population going again? Most of the planet had to be wiped out by now, surely. She almost lost her balance which drew her out of her thoughts, and as she regained her composure and held onto the window ledge for dear life, her eyes went even wider at the thought of attracting walkers.

"It's that blue one down the street again." She said quietly, as she straightened herself up and focused, noticing Duane approach to look as well.

"That noise...Won't it bring more of them?" The man asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"If it does, there's not much we can do about it." Elise shrugged, "We'll just have to wait it out until morning."

Suddenly, Duane let out a gasp, and Elise's eyes immediately locked onto the reason why. His poor mother was out there again, wandering around like a lost soul. It broke her heart to see how painful this was for Morgan and Duane. She'd seen what had happened to this woman. She shouldn't still be up and about but...God... None of them had it in them to kill her. All they had to remember her by was some photos of her. Her beautiful smile, her happy times with her family... Elise was saddened by it. She only had a few photographs. One of her and her family all together, one of her and her sister, and two more that she never shared with anybody. Even Morgan and Duane hadn't seen them, even though they knew of her past.

"She's here..." The child breathed, only to be grabbed by the young woman and brought away from the window.

He immediately raced from her grasp and collapsed into his bed sobbing, pained by the sight of his dead mother walking around outside. Elise hurried to quieten him, sitting beside him and grabbing a pillow before placing it on her knee. Carefully she lifted Duane and turned him so he could hide his face in the pillow and she rocked him, hushing him and soothing him. Her heart broke for the poor little boy.

"Shhh, sweetie...Cry into the pillow." She said softly, "Remember? We have to cry into the pillow..."

Morgan hurried to his son's side while the man stayed by the windows, watching the woman as she moved towards the porch. Morgan rubbed his son's back as Elise rocked him and hushed him still, but he kept his focus on the other survivor in their home.

"Shhh, it's okay." Elise whispered, "I want you to take big, deep, quiet breaths for me, okay? Can you do that, Duane?"

As Duane began to do what he asked, Elise pressed a kiss to his hair, whispering praise and more words of comfort to him to soothe him some more. Morgan turned the boy into his own embrace and held him tight, fighting his own emotion as he thanked Elise with a weak smile and a gentle squeeze of her hand. As the man came back to them, Elise moved to his side, clearly fighting tears of her own. After knowing and experiencing what had happened to Morgan's wife, seeing her out on the street was like reliving it all over again.

"She, um..." Morgan began, controlling his emotions while he could, "She died in that other room... On that bed. Nothing I could do about it. That fever man..."

"Skin gave off heat like a furnace." Elise spoke up, swallowing the lump in her throat, "I've never felt anything like that in my life. She should've been put down but... As you can see, none of us had the strength to do it."

The man just nodded quietly in response. Elise carefully stepped over to Morgan, wrapping her arms around him to comfort him the best she could. She'd seen what happened to that beautiful woman. She never wanted to see it again.

* * *

The next morning, the group awoke to a soft humming coming from the kitchen. Elise was making breakfast, and smiled softly as she heard the men and Duane stirring in the other room. She quickly got the breakfast onto plates and began to bring it through. No doubt everyone was starving.

"Good morning, guys." She said with a warm smile as she brought a plate through for Duane and one for their guest, who they'd come to know as Rick Grimes, "Here, Rick. Get some of that strength back in you. And you, champ."

Duane took the plate gratefully and waited respectfully as she returned with plates for herself and his dad. As the group tucked into their meal, Elise smiled as Rick's face was graced with a blissful expression when he put the first spoonful of eggs in his mouth.

"Where'd you get these?" He asked her, watching her wink in response.

"We have a few boxes left." She said, poking at her food for a second before looking over at Morgan, "Do you think we can let him take on a walker today? I mean, his wound is almost healed...Just a little bit of healing left to do."

"Are you up for that, Rick?" Morgan asked, watching as Rick swallowed another mouthful of breakfast.

"I could try." He said with a soft grimace, "No harm in that, right?"

"Don't overdo it." Elise warned him, "It takes some swinging. You'll need some muscle in your arms."

"Like yours, you mean?" Duane said, laughing as she flexed her muscles and began to pretend to kiss her biceps.

"Damn, those are big..." Rick commented with a chuckle, "You work out a lot before all this?"

"Champion archer." Elise laughed, "My entire body has to be strong for that. I'm grateful too, given the situation. There are next to no walkers out there. We could easily cover you."

"Okay." Rick answered, nodding with a smile on his face, "Yeah, I'll try."

After their meal, everyone got dressed and freshened up and Rick allowed Elise to change his bandages before she helped him into some clean clothes. He studied the young woman as she washed her hands and folded up the towels she'd used. Her face had petite features, but her prettiness didn't smack you in the face. It was subtle things she did that made her beauty stand out. It may have been the auburn curls hanging by her face, or the way the light caught her face as she smiled. There were a lot of things that brought out the prettiness in her. She looked dainty but it was clear there was a lot more to her than met the eye.

"How old are you, Elise?" He asked her, hearing a small laugh from her.

"Twenty-four." She said quietly, "You wondering what I did before the world went to hell?"

As Rick nodded, Elise let out a huge smile and then laughed out loud. Rick was confused by this, but waited for her to regain her composure. Elise was remembering the old days when she could walk around and just buy food when she was hungry or she could go outside without being chased and almost eaten by another person. She remembered the darker days of her life too. In her view, darker than this mess they were all in.

"I wanted to be able to support myself during college, so I worked at a few stores, then a couple of coffee shops." She began, "Then I ended up in a Walmart. Got to spend my weekends cleaning up after lazy, dirty bastards and got abused by our great American citizens. It sucked, but it paid the bills. Anyway, I was at college training to be a teacher. Got into a kindergarten as a teacher and had a great couple of years until whatever this is broke out."

"I notice you're keen on music." He said, gesturing to her _Guns 'n' Roses _vest top.

"I'm a piano player by nature, but I play bass and acoustic guitar too." She told him, "I played in a band locally. We had a lot of fun, but I lost those guys so early on in this thing..."

Retrieving her baseball bat from under the bed, Elise handed it carefully to Rick, who stood slowly from the bed, using it as support. He got used to the feeling of the bat in his hands, getting into the stance as if to practice taking a swing. Elise knew he was ready to go and take on a walker. Adrenaline was often enough to give you the energy to bash their heads in, but it helped to have good stamina and upper body strength too.

"Alright, officer." She said with a smile, "Let's go kick some ass."

Grabbing her bow from the living room, Elise swung her quiver over her shoulder and grabbed an arrow. Rick eyed the pink bow in her hand and watched as she lined the arrow up, eyes flashing towards Morgan and Duane. She looked dead set in her concentration. She looked so on edge that the slightest noise would make her fly to the other side of the room, but it was just pure focus. Morgan gave Rick a helmet to protect his face from the blood spatter, and the group headed to the door.

"Let me go first." Elise told them, "There's one sitting just on the driveway, but I'm gonna clear any stragglers on the street."

Morgan nodded and opened the door, letting Elise out first. Bow aimed, she stepped out slowly, scanning the street for any random walkers. Much to the auburn haired woman's relief, the street was clear save the one on the driveway. Still keeping her eyes and ears sharp, Elise let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, Rick...Show us what you got." Elise whispered, beckoning him out.

"Are we sure they're dead?" Rick asked as he got to the porch.

"You have to ask, just one more time. They're dead." Morgan explained, "Except for something in the brain. That's why it's gotta be the head."

As Rick slowly approached the walker, it took no time in getting up. It turned and suddenly stumbled towards him, bloodied mouth opening and closing at the sight of its next potential meal. Rick charged it and hit it repeatedly with the bat, finally collapsing on the ground as the helmet fell from his head. He was clearly in pain and exhausted from the heavy, hard movements he'd just made. It was tiring work and bloody work. Not to mention you had to get used to dealing with the fact that these things were no longer people. Just empty, rotting corpses.

"You alright?" Morgan asked, approaching the man on the ground as Elise gave the still twitching walker an arrow to the head.

"Need a moment." Rick said quietly, breathing heavily as the strain caused him pain to his healing wound.

"Come on..." Elise breathed, pulling her arrow out of the corpse's head and wiping it on her shirt before going to help him up, "Up we get..."

Easing Rick to his feet, Elise looked to Morgan and nodded quietly, turning to help Rick back into the house. When he'd rested, they were going to pay a visit to the cop's old house. He knew his wife had taken their son and left. There were no photo albums or picture frames left, as he'd explained, and no clothes. They were just going to stop by for his key to the police department and then after a weapons raid, Rick was going to head for Atlanta. Elise had made her decision.

She was going to ask if she could go with him.

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Thanks for reading so far! **

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	3. Moving On

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **This chapter is shorter than the others. I'm off work for the next week so I will get as much writing done as possible. I notice there isn't much popularity with this at the moment, and I hope people are enjoying it. I may take this fic down later. Anyway, to everyone who has read, followed, favourited or reviewed this fic so far, thank you and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Happy reading!

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* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Three: Moving On**

Leading Duane, Morgan and Elise through the police station, Rick figured his first option would be the locker room.

The place was deathly quiet. There wasn't a soul in sight. Rick hoped that the showers still worked. There was no power or water but the station ran on it's own propane system which hopefully was on autopilot. That meant there was hot water. God, how they all longed for a hot shower. It was the one thing Elise relied on to get her through tough days. A hot shower or bath was enough to relax her.

Elise knew that Rick would be leaving them soon and she was going to ask if she could tag along. She needed to get away. Go and look for answers, possibly even friends who were still alive. Rick had revealed to them that the showers worked and the water was hot, so Elise had gone to get some stuff from the car. Her legs were ready for shaving, and so were her underarms.

Hearing Morgan and Duane's cheerful voices coming from inside the locker room, Elise bit her lip anxiously at the thought of telling them she wanted to head off with Rick. Duane was a sweet, kind kid and she didn't want to just abandon him and his dad. But she couldn't bear being stuck in the house any more.

She walked in shyly in just a towel and headed into the final stall, turning on the shower. Duane stared at her legs and shook his head. She noticed this and laughed softly at his expression, wondering what was wrong.

"I've seen 'em worse than that, Elise!" He said, "You can't be that desperate to shave 'em."

"It's the first time I've had the chance to for months without shivering in the process. Hot water! Damn!" She laughed, "Never thought I'd feel this again."

The men watched her clasp her towel to herself and she arched an eyebrow at them, scowling at them all.

"Turn away, gents. Naked lady taking a shower." She said, "Don't want Duane seeing anything he shouldn't."

As the men turned to the left to face the wall, Duane respectfully followed suit, and Elise got showered and shaved in peace. She could hear Duane's happy voice and she watched as he did a celebratory dance under the hot spray. She relished the feeling of it against her skin, and in the back of her mind she reminded herself that this was merely a luxury now. So, she was determined to enjoy it. She sighed under the heat of the spray and the feeling of the water pounding on her muscles. She loved every second of it.

As she finished washing her hair, she rinsed it, wrung it out and pinned it up to her head before wrapping the towel around herself and heading to the dressing room to get dried and changed. She was set on leaving now, and she knew that Morgan and Duane would always be in her heart. She loved them like father and brother. They'd taken such good care of her, and after everything with her neighbour, John, Elise knew that Morgan had saved her from being consumed by it.

"Elise, are you decent?"

Elise smiled as Duane knocked on the door, and as she pulled her light pink tank top over her waistband and picked up her things, she cleared her throat.

"Yes, honey. Come on in." She said softly, smiling sweetly as Duane walked in to get dressed and dried.

He was very respectful and his dad had taught him well. As a female guest, Elise had been given the most privacy she'd ever had in her life. Morgan had told Duane he had to knock and make sure Elise was decent before entering a room he knew she'd been getting changed in. There was nothing wrong with a bit of common courtesy. Even if the world had gone to shit.

"You okay, sweetie?" She asked, "Did you enjoy that shower?"

"It was great." Duane replied, causing her to chuckle, "Dad and Rick are just getting changed."

"Okay." Elise said quietly, "I'll leave you to it."

* * *

After gathering weapons from the station's gun room, the four of them headed out of the building to make their own ways. Rick was giving them advice on weapons, and Elise tried to get up the courage to ask if she could go with him.

"Conserve your ammo. Goes faster than you think." Rick told them, "Especially at target practice."

Reaching the vehicles, Rick turned to the trio before him and asked one final time if they wanted to go with him. Elise knew it would be now or never.

"You sure you won't come along?" He said, not expecting an answer.

"If you're willing to take me, I'll go with you..." Elise said quietly, earning shocked looks from Morgan and Duane, "Look, I need to get out of here... I'm getting cabin fever... And it's not you guys, 'cause God knows, you've been there for me through so much... I just need to move on..."

"Will you be alright?" Morgan asked, "What about your stuff?"

"I packed a bag. It's in the back of the car. I've made up my mind." Elise replied, going to hug the father and son, "I love you guys. Thanks for everything you've done for me. I won't ever forget you."

Morgan gripped her tightly and then let her give Duane her attention as he went to get her bag for her. She squeezed the boy tightly into her arms and kissed his temple, shushing him as she heard a small sob escape him.

"I left my guitar back at the house and some instruction books." She whispered, "They're for you. You wanted to learn, so you have the chance. I even left you that pick you liked."

"Thanks, Elise." Duane whispered, "I'm gonna miss you."

Tearfully, Elise nodded and gripped the child tightly in her embrace again. She stroked his face one last time before standing up and hugging Morgan again. They'd given her another chance and fought her corner when she felt like she couldn't stand. They'd been there for her through thick and thin and she knew it'd be hard without them.

"Look after her, Rick. Make sure she doesn't get hurt." Duane said, wiping his eyes.

"I promise you, I'll protect her with my life." Rick told the young boy, "You look after your old man, you hear?"

"Yes, sir." Duane answered, sharing one more hug with Elise, "I love you."

"I love you too, kiddo." Elise replied with a sad smile, "Take care of yourselves."

As the pairs got into their separate vehicles, they signalled each other with a beep of the horn and in Rick's case, the car's siren, and went their separate ways.

"So...This is it." Elise breathed, "We're really going."

"Yeah, we are." Rick said quietly, noticing she was concerned about Morgan and Duane already, "They'll be just fine."

"I hope so." Elise replied with a nod, "I really do."

* * *

Rick had pulled over on a street on the way out of town. Elise walked behind him, bow and arrow armed and at the ready as she followed him to where he needed to go. Her words to him when he'd requested this stop had been, "_I'm right behind you._" And that had been enough to give Rick the strength to go and finally put a poor, dying creature to rest.

"This walker's just a torso, you said?" Elise asked softly as they followed the trail of dark blood.

"Yeah...I'll warn you, it isn't a nice sight." Rick told her, "I won't expect you to come over to it if you don't want to. Just stand guard."

Elise nodded, stopping in her tracks as she lay her eyes on the poor beast. It crawled slowly on its stomach, wheezing and groaning under the heat of the sun. The smell was bad enough that it carried several feet from where it was crawling, but Elise stood firm, managing, for once, not to gag at the stench. Her heart broke when she saw it stop, exhausted, letting out a heavy wheeze and a mournful moan. A tear ran down her face as Rick approached it and gently spoke to it, before suddenly blowing it's head off. It had been something he'd needed to do, but clearly something that he found difficult.

She wiped her eyes as Rick returned to her, and she noticed that the experience had upset him as well. As he walked over to her, she put her bow and arrow in her quiver and opened her arms to him, allowing him to embrace her. She stood and held him until he was alright, and ready to let her go, and then the pair set off towards the car.

"Not nice, is it?" She asked, "When you gotta put 'em down in that state it gets to you the first few times."

"It doesn't bother you any more?" Rick asked, earning a shake of the head from the young woman.

"Nothing really bothers me now, Rick." She said, "Too busy surviving to worry about stuff. You just have to remember to try and keep hoping. Try and be happy. Try and laugh... Laughter's a wonderful thing. Makes you a feel a lot better, even when you don't think you'll ever feel good again."

She sighed and looked around them, chewing on her thumb absently as they made their way in comfortable silence to their car. As the pair got inside, Rick looked over to her and smiled, earning a beaming smile back.

"Well..." She said, running a hand through her now dry and loose auburn curls, "Off to Atlanta we go."

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed! **

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	4. Welcome To The City

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Thanks to all who've read so far. Again, I'm not sure if this fic is staying up. If you like it let me know. I don't want to make a decision without hearing the feedback from you guys. I've written two more chapters, but if people aren't enjoying this story, I'll not do any more work on it and take it down.

Happy reading!

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Four: Welcome To The City**

"A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" Elise laughed as she saw Rick approaching the lonely animal, "You really wanna ride him, Rick? What if he's one of those edgy ones who bolts at the slightest noise?"

"We got no choice. You got your stuff?" He asked her, watching her indicate the two bags on her back as well as the bow and quiver.

They'd stopped at a nearby house for some gas, but the owners were dead, and the car was all but useless to them. So, they had to find another way to get to the city. Elise was glad she brought her backpack. It was like Mary Poppins's carpet bag. You could fit everything in there and the kitchen sink on top. It meant that while the horse would have a lot of weight to carry, they wouldn't be burdened with loads of bags. Just two bags of guns and her insanely large backpack.

"I'll carry the guns, just let me round the horse up." Rick said quietly, "We can condense 'em down into one bag, right?"

"Probably. My backpack's still got some room." Elise answered, to Rick's amazement, "Here..."

They packed the weapons up and rolled the other bag up to place it in her backpack should they need it later. Then, Rick went off to find something to harness the horse with. Leaving Elise with the bags, Rick approached the horse carefully, harness in hand. It was a beautiful creature, with the gentlest eyes Elise had ever seen on an animal, despite it being obviously terrified of the pair. She didn't feel too good about riding it though. She hadn't ridden a horse before.

"Easy now, easy. I'm not gonna hurt you. Nothing like that." Rick said softly as the horse neighed when he approached, "More like a proposal. Atlanta's just down the road a ways. It's safe there. Food, shelter, people, other horses too, I bet. How's that sound?"

Elise smiled as he got the harness around the horse's neck and it nuzzled his face gently. She stepped forward with the bags, taking care to be slow around the frightened creature.

"Hey, beautiful." She said softly, stroking the horse's nose, "You're fine... Just fine..."

"You get up first." Rick said quietly, "I'll pass you your bag, then I'll get up and we'll get going."

Elise allowed Rick to lift her so she could climb onto the horse, and took the backpack from him. He climbed up behind her, taking the reigns as he put the bag of guns over his shoulder. Elise held onto his wrists as he crossed his hands over her abdomen, trying to make her feel a little secure. It was hard to keep a hold of her with her large bag in the way.

"Don't be so nervous." He told her, "The horse is gonna pick up on it."

Then he set the horse off walking, noticing Elise relax into the rhythm of its movements. For a tough girl, she sure did get scared over strange things. He wondered what sort of phobias she had. He didn't know all that much about her, but if she was prepared to help him find his family, that was good enough for him. They had time to get to know each other properly on the road to Atlanta.

"Let's go easy, okay? I haven't done this for years." He told the horse, who began to speed up instantly, "Easy. Easy, boy."

As the horse broke into a run, Elise let out a shriek and gripped on for dear life, while Rick let out a nervous chuckle, both at Elise and the horse's antics.

"Easy, easy, easy!"

* * *

Arriving at the outskirts to the city, Elise took a deep breath as she took in the sight of how destroyed and deserted it was. Abandoned cars littered the highway and a grey sky loomed above the pair as the horse nervously walked onward. It had a heavy load to carry and was doing a great job, as Elise and Rick kept telling it.

"Shit..." Elise breathed, "Look at this place..."

"We have to keep going." Rick told her, "We'll be fine."

"Huh... Easy for you to say. You haven't had to deal with packs." Elise huffed, "Remember what Morgan told you. We can't get cornered by a pack or we're fucked."

It was the first time Elise had said that word in a long, long time. Rick looked at her in surprise and she arched an eyebrow, laughing incredulously. As if he had an issue with her swearing at a time like this. She didn't care any more, and she doubted anyone else did. After all she'd been through, she wasn't prepared to give up bad language again to suit someone else.

"What are you gonna do, Rick? Arrest me?" She asked, "The world's gone to shit, and I haven't been able to curse properly in a long time, so, now it's just us adults, I think a few swear words are okay."

"Just didn't think you were the foul-mouthed type." Rick said calmly as the horse walked on.

"You think that's foul-mouthed?" Elise laughed, stroking the horse's head, "Dude, you got a lot to learn about me."

"I have, huh?" Rick chuckled, shaking his head as Elise's laughing died down.

"I ain't some tough girl. I don't go around asking for trouble." She said with a small smile, which quickly faded, "I just stand up for what I think's right. If there's a situation I think I can help with, I'll help. If I know it's best to keep my nose out, I'll do it. But make no mistake, I am feisty. I'm brave, and I'm strong when I have to be."

Rick pondered on this for a few moments and solemnly nodded, watching the horse start to grow more anxious as they headed towards the city. The streets were totally abandoned. There was trash strewn about the place and battered cars parked up on the ruined sidewalks. The street they decided to take a turn up had a tank and a crashed helicopter on it, and the sight of the utter destruction of the place made Elise lose hope of finding anyone. Whatever had happened here, Elise was grateful she hadn't been here at the time. Someone had said that Atlanta had been napalmed, but Elise didn't believe it. Now, however, looking at the place, maybe that was true.

"Look at this..." She breathed, passing a bus with dead people inside, "Shit, man... I had no idea it was this bad."

The bus was warn and ruined, and the bodies inside were well into their decay. It made Elise and Rick's stomachs churn. The smell was something else. Elise had never smelt something so bad before. It was enough to make her dry heave over the side of the horse. Rick managed to halt the horse, checking that the young woman was okay.

A grunting noise caught the pair's attention, and to their horror, the bodies got up and starting making their way out of the bus. Elise immediately grabbed her bow and an arrow and got ready to shoot. Fear filled her the pit of her stomach as she thought of what was going to happen to them in the city. She had this awful feeling that there were a hell of a lot more walkers round the area than they could see. After all, there had been so many people here. It would've been the perfect hunting ground for the crazies to find their food.

"Don't waste your arrows yet... There are only a few of them." Rick said quietly, hushing the startled horse, "We can always turn and run. This horse is way faster than walkers."

"You wanna hope and pray you're right." Elise breathed, hearing Rick gasp suddenly.

"You see that helicopter?" He asked, looking up at the sky.

"I didn't see or hear a damn thing." Elise whispered, panicked, "I can only hear these hungry sons of bitches. What do we do?"

"Follow that helicopter." Rick said, edging the horse forward.

However, rounding a corner, they were stopped by a huge pack of hungry, snarling walkers, which sent Elise into immediate combat mode. The adrenaline kicked in and for a few moments, she felt no panic. She aimed her arrow but before she could shoot anything, Rick had turned them round. There were walkers all over the street, clawing at them with snapping jaws and pitiful moans and groans. The horse bolted in fear, sending Rick and Elise flying to the ground. Elise groaned in pain but shot to her feet, putting her weapons away as she saw the horse go down. Looking to where Rick was having trouble getting up, Elise rushed to him, letting out a gasp at the horse's scream of pain. Grabbing the ex-cop, she ran towards the tank, seeing it as their only refuge, looking back to see he'd dropped his guns.

"Fuck!" She cursed, watching him turn to go back for them, "No! Leave them!"

As she ran, Elise slid her backpack under the tank and then scrambled underneath, only to hear Rick shooting the walkers as he attempted to get to her. She winced at the pain in her knees and she figured she'd taken a small layer of skin off them as she scrambled along the concrete. They were trapped, and Rick had just alerted every walker in the vicinity. She saw his expression as he realised there was only one bullet left. It was one of total loss and total hopelessness. Elise knew what was coming. As fear got the better of him, she gave him a sharp slap upside the head, jerking him out of his reverie.

"Don't you leave me out here in this, you bastard." She snapped, "You said in that car that if we go down, we go together, so man up and look for a way outta this..."

"Here!" Rick cried, spotting a hatch above their heads, "I'll go in first, and then pull you up."

Quickly, the pair scrambled inside, fastening the hatch tightly behind them. Elise gasped for breath, clutching her bow to her for dear life. How they survived just then, she didn't know, but that bag of guns was still out there and they had to get it back. A growling at the side of them startled the pair, and they saw that the dead body of the soldier in the tank was starting to move.

Before Rick could do anything, Elise shot the walker straight through the head with an arrow, quickly moving to retrieve it. She searched the body, wincing at the horrendous smell coming from it, only to find a gun with just one bullet left and a grenade of all the damn things.

Rick fastened the grenade to his belt and handed the gun to Elise before taking his own gun out and taking the safety catch off. This was it. Either a bullet through the head each or be mauled to death by the geeks who were now all over the tank.

"Hey, you. Dumbasses."

Elise snapped her head around as the radio in the tank burst into life. It was another human voice. She almost cried at the sound of it. Someone could see them. Someone knew where they were and that person could help them.

"Hey, you in the tank." The voice came again, "Cosy in there?"

"Oh, God..." Elise breathed, "That can't be..."

"Hey, are you alive in there?" The voice came once again, alerting Rick and Elise that they had to answer the radio.

"Hello? Hello?" Rick answered, heart racing.

They were both in a state of shock. They couldn't believe their luck, that someone was actually in the city and had seen they were in mortal danger. Someone was talking to them. God, the sound of that voice. Another human voice.

"There you are. You had me wondering." The man on the radio answered, sounding relieved.

"Where are you? Outside?" Rick asked, hearing Elise shuffle forwards.

"Can you see us right now?" She asked frantically.

"Yeah, I can see you." The voice answered, "You're surrounded by walkers. That's the bad news."

"There's good news?" Rick asked, making room for Elise to be able to hear what was going on.

"No." The voice replied.

"Listen, whoever you are." Elise breathed, "I don't mind telling you we're a little concerned in here. We've got a ton of walkers on us! What the fuck do we do?"

"Oh man. You should see it from over here." The voice came over the radio again, "You'd be having a major freak-out."

"We're already freaking out!" Elise almost sobbed, "Jesus..."

"Damn...She sounds a mess." The voice said quietly.

"She's terrified. What do you expect?" Rick said back, "Look, please, we really need to get out of here. Got any advice for us?"

"Yep." The voice replied, "Make a run for it."

Elise let out a frustrated groan then. Make a run for it? That was their only option while they were cornered and swarmed? Make a run for it?

"Make a run for it?" Rick asked, shaking his head.

"My way's not as dumb as it sounds. You've got eyes on the outside here." The voice explained, "There's one geek still up on the tank but the others have climbed down and joined the feeding frenzy where the horse went down. With me so far?"

"So far." Rick repeated, watching as Elise took off her bag and started taking out weapons.

She was glad they'd stocked some, and some ammo in her bag. At least they stood a little bit of a chance when they 'made a run for it'. Taking deep breaths, she looked over at Rick who was trying to reassure her.

"Okay, the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded." The man explained, "If you move now while they're distracted, you stand a chance. Got ammo?"

"Yeah, I got a Beretta with one clip. Fifteen rounds." Rick explained, "We got two handguns with a bullet each left in them, and my friend here has her bow and arrow, and two knives."

"Make those rounds count. Your friend needs to conserve her arrows. They aren't that easy to come by." The voice said, "Jump off the right side of the tank, keep going in that direction. There's an alley up the street, maybe fifty yards. Be there."

"Hey, what's your name?" Rick asked, hearing Elise let out an incredulous huff.

"Have you been listening? You're running out of time." The voice snapped, "Go now!"

Elise shoved her things into her bag and threw it onto her back, allowing Rick to climb out of the tank first. They clambered out and made a run for it, hand in hand. Rick was shooting up the whole street and Elise was cursing him as they went, while stabbing walkers in the head that got too close for comfort. Reaching the alley in question, the pair were met with a young Asian guy, who hurried them up a fire escape ladder to get away from the approaching hordes of walkers.

As they reached a landing, Elise dropped to her knees to catch her breath, checking her arrows to make sure she still had them. She was amazed that she'd not spilt any over the road, and thankfully hugged the quiver to her chest.

"Nice moves, Clint Eastwood." The Asian kid said to Rick, "You the new sheriff come riding in to clean up the town?"

"It wasn't my intention." Rick answered, moving to help Elise to her feet, "You okay?"

"Fine." She replied turning to the Asian guy, "Thanks, man. We really thought it was over for us back there."

"Yeah, whatever. You're still dumbasses." The man said, watching the pair hold their hands out to him.

"Rick."

"Elise."

He shook both their hands, still panting for breath.

"Glenn." He answered, "You're welcome."

Looking down, Glenn's face dropped as he noticed a walker tried to climb the fire escape after them. Now, it seemed, they really were stuck.

"Oh no." He breathed, causing Elise and Rick to look too.

They looked just as concerned as he did. The dead getting up and walking around was bad enough, but dead bodies that could climb fire escapes seemed a million times worse.

"The bright side..." He began, "It'll be the fall that kills us. I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy."

With that, the group started to climb another fire escape to start their journey towards another building.

-TBC-

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	5. The Newcomers

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Wooo! I'm glad at least someone is liking this. I'm working on the 10th chapter as we speak and I will upload a new chapter every day or every other day. Whatever I can manage. Anyway, I have a feeling this fic will be a long one. It might have to either be stupidly long or broken down into seasons. I dunno, let me know what you guys think. Thanks for the support so far!

Happy reading!

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* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Five: The Newcomers**

As then trio crossed over to another building, Glenn led the newcomers silently as they watched the horde of dead people wandering around below them.

It was an unnerving sight, and Elise, who was still recovering from what had happened in the tank, looked away and tried to steady her breathing. They'd been so close to death it was terrifying. She'd hoped for a better end to her life, so thank the Lord for Glenn. Poor, nervous Glenn.

"Are you the one that barricaded the alley?" Rick asked the Asian boy, catching Elise's attention as they began to run.

"Somebody did… I guess when the city got overrun." Glenn explained, panting for breath, "Whoever did it was thinking not many geeks would get through."

"Clearly, they were wrong." Elise said, trying to control her breathing again, "It's an infestation down there."

"Back at the tank..." Rick began, wiping sweat from his brow as Glenn and Elise lifted a trap door up, "Why'd you stick your neck out for us?"

"Call it foolish, naive hope that if I'm ever that far up shit creek, somebody might do the same for me." Glenn said quietly, throwing his bag inside and climbing in, "Guess I'm an even bigger dumbass than you guys."

Elise followed suit and the Rick came down after them, closing the trap door above their heads. Running across an empty white room, they burst through another door and back into the sunlight, racing down some steps and across to another building.

"I'm back!" Glenn said into a walkie talkie as he hurried down the steps, "Got two guests and four geeks in the alley!"

They stopped just short of the bottom of the steps, and Rick had to steady Elise who almost fell forward into Glenn due to the weight of her backpack. They stood there as the walkers approached them, unsure of what to do, but two people in black protective gear suddenly came running out to beat the crazies while the trio hurried inside. As the door was slammed shut, Elise turned to see a blonde woman holding her gun up to Rick's face. So she immediately pulled her gun and aimed it at her head. She may have only had one bullet but she would've made it count if it protected Rick.

"Put it down." She snapped, glaring at the woman, "Do it, or I'll blow your brains out, I swear to God."

"Okay, everyone just calm down..." The black woman who was with the group spoke calmly, trying to calm the blonde down rather than Elise.

"You're kidding me, right?" The blonde snarled, "We're dead because of these stupid assholes."

"Andrea, back the hell off." The large Hispanic-American guy said, watching the blonde get upset as she finally lowered her gun.

Now the threat was eliminated, Elise put her gun away too. She wasn't so stupid as to take her hand off it though, just in case. The blonde woman let out a small sob as she looked at the others and then back at the newcomers. It seemed Elise and Rick hadn't made a great first impression.

"We're dead." She said, "All of us...Because of you."

"Oh, please..." Elise groaned, earning a glare from Andrea.

"Look." The Hispanic man said, marching Rick off to another part of the building, "We came to the city to gather supplies. You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving!"

He pushed Rick hard and Elise, who was trailing behind him, had to fight the urge to knock his head off. The hostility was understandable, but overwhelming. These were times when people had to stick together, and yes, Elise and Rick had probably made a mistake entering the city the way they did. But it wasn't like any harm had been caused on purpose.

"You know the key to surviving? Sneaking in and out, tiptoeing." The man said again, "Not shooting up the streets like it's the O.K. Corral."

When the black woman put her hands on Elise's shoulders, she spun around and grabbed her wrists hard enough for it to hurt. She couldn't stand people touching her from behind. It scared the shit out of her and she had good enough reasons why. The weight of her backpack didn't stop her from being able to move fast enough to warn the woman off.

"Get your fucking hands off me." She snarled, letting her wrists go as a calmer expression crossed her features, "Never touch me from behind like that. Ever. Are we clear?"

Everyone stood in shock as Elise gave a weak and slightly apologetic smile when the woman nodded, and they carried on into a clothing section of the store.

"Every geek for miles around heard you popping off rounds." The black man said angrily.

"You just rang the dinner bell." Andrea said, all of them watching as walkers banged against the doors to where they were standing.

"Just to be clear, you're blaming us for this?" Elise asked, earning a sharp nod from Andrea, "Y'all racing out there beating the shit out of those walkers' heads didn't make any noise at all then?"

She looked to the black and Hispanic-American man, who couldn't deny the point she'd made. She wasn't wrong. All their yelling and grunting was enough to attract more dead people, so the blame didn't lie solely at their door.

"Don't be blaming Elise for this." Rick said, standing up for his friend, "I was the one shooting. Elise hasn't done anything wrong. All she's done is try to keep the both of us alive."

"Oh God." Andrea breathed as walkers started trying to smash the doors, causing the group to head out of that area, "What the hell were you doing out there anyway?"

"He said he saw a helicopter." Elise began, "I didn't see or hear a thing but we were following it."

"Helicopter? Man, that's crap. Ain't no damn helicopter." The black man said, his tone earning him a frankly scary glare from Elise.

"Did I ask for your opinion?" She asked, earning a shake of the head, "No? Well, if I'd wanted it, I would've."

She was being very angry and very hostile herself. These people, they knew nothing about her or Rick, and she knew nothing about them. She didn't have the right to go shooting off her mouth, but she was so wound up, it was hard to keep it all together.

"You were chasing a hallucination, imagining things." The black woman said, trying to keep the peace, "It happens."

"I saw it." Rick said, defending himself.

"Hey, T-Dog, try that C.B." The Hispanic man said, "Can you contact the others?"

T-Dog, the black man, began trying to contact other survivors on the walkie talkie, only to get no response. Rick and Elise quickly established that there was no rescue centre, and that they were alone in this indefinitely.

"Got no signal. Maybe the roof?" T-Dog suggested.

As the group headed towards the roof, they heard another gun going off, and Andrea caught Elise giving her a slight smirk at the sound. One of their own was busy popping off rounds, so it turned out that Elise and Rick weren't the only 'stupid assholes' here.

"And you're blaming me and him?"

"Is that Dixon?" Andrea asked, ignoring Elise's comment.

"What is that maniac doing?" The Hispanic man said, all of them heading towards the roof.

As they burst the door open, they were met with the sight of a man standing on the roof, laughing and firing bullet after bullet into walkers. Elise and Rick shared glances with each other. Perfect. They'd ended up in more danger than before. They were stuck with an idiot.

"Hey, Dixon, are you crazy?!" T-Dog yelled, watching the man shoot another bullet before breaking into laughter again.

"Hey! Y'all be more polite to a man with a gun! Huh? Ah! Only common sense." The man named Dixon answered, swaggering slightly.

"You can just tell we're gonna love this guy." Elise said to Rick, who only nodded in response.

"Man, you wasting bullets we ain't even got!" T-Dog yelled again.

"Get down, you idiot!" Elise shouted, "You'll be bringing 'em all on our ass! Then how are we gonna get outta here, huh?"

"I'll bring my hand down on your ass if you want, darlin'." The idiot on the roof laughed, only causing the woman in front of him to snarl.

"Why don't you go lie down somewhere and grow a brain?" She responded, noticing how Glenn stared at her open-mouthed.

"Man, just chill!" T-Dog said to both of them, watching as the man approached him with the gun held tightly in his hand.

Rick stared at Elise, feeling angry at her attitude in this situation. Making wise cracks wasn't helping, and he didn't want her or anyone else to get hurt because she couldn't stay quiet. He leaned down to talk to her, his gravelly voice soft but stern as he spoke.

"I thought you knew when to keep your mouth shut." He said in a scolding tone, watching Elise simply shrug in response, folding her arms across her chest.

"I'm sorry, someone needed to inform him that he's missing a vital organ." She said calmly, "Just thought I'd be the courteous one and tell him."

The glare Rick gave her in response was matched with one of her own, which made him feel nervous. It was a little funny. She said things in such a deadpan way it was hard not to find it amusing, but this was neither the time or the place to be making stupid jokes and starting fights.

"Hey! Bad enough I've got this taco-bender on my ass all day. Now I'm gonna take orders from you?" The man with the gun asked, "I don't think so, bro. That'll be the day."

Now, Elise knew she had to keep her mouth shut. If a fight broke out, she'd need to dig in and help split it up, not make it worse by annoying the guy even more.

"_'That'll be the day'_? You got something you want to tell me?" T-Dog asked, clearly angered by what the other man was saying.

The Hispanic man tried to get him to back down, but T-Dog wasn't having it. Elise quickly moved over to the others, going to talk to the group's apparent leader at this point.

"Hey, uh..."

"Morales." The man introduced himself.

"Morales." Elise repeated quietly, putting her backpack down carefully, "This guy's name is...?"

"Merle. Merle Dixon." Morales whispered, "Why?"

"If things get out of control, are you wanting Rick and I to step in? I mean, Rick's a cop and I know self defence." She explained, earning a confused look, "Merle looks like a nasty guy. We don't need anyone getting injured, right? The situation's bad enough."

And just at that moment, T-Dog and Merle broke into a fight. Rick raced to intervene but got thrown to one side, and as Elise went forward to help, she got hit so hard in the face by Merle she heard her jaw crack. Hitting the floor, she felt the pain flush through her face, but soon felt herself being picked up by Rick and Morales, who took her to one side. The right side of her nose and mouth were bleeding and a dark red mark was already forming around the injured area.

"It's okay, gents... I've had worse." She told them, coughing slightly and spitting some blood onto the floor, "Go help T-Dog."

By this point, Merle had a gun pointed right in T-Dog's face, and Elise's face twisted with disgust as the man spat on him and then rubbed it into his shirt. She'd never seen behaviour so revolting. She hated to say it, but Merle seemed to be everything that made up the redneck stereotype.

"Yeah! All right! We're gonna have ourselves a little powwow, huh? Talk about who's in charge. I vote me. Anybody else?" Merle asked, watching the others glance at him fearfully, "Huh? Democracy time, y'all. Show of hands, huh? All in favour? Huh? Come on. Let's see 'em."

Everyone slowly started raising their hands, and Elise couldn't believe what she was seeing, but she did it anyway, just to distract Merle so that Rick could sneak up behind the idiot as he was clearly planning to.

"Oh, come on. All in favour? Yeah. That's good." Merle chuckled, watching T-Dog whose hand still hadn't raised in the air yet, "Now that means I'm the boss, right? Yeah. Anybody else? Hmm? Anybody?"

Rifle in hand, Rick hit Merle straight across the face, knocking him to the ground. Elise hurried forward and helped pin him there before drawing her bow and arrow, aiming it at his head. She stood there, still bleeding and face bruised, but unflinching as Rick got control over Merle. The others stood there flabbergasted as Rick hauled him up and cuffed him to the pipe the other man was sitting against.

"Who the hell are you, man?!" Merle asked, earning a low growl from Rick.

"Officer Friendly. Look here, Merle. Things are different now." Rick said darkly, "There are no niggers any more. No dumb-as-shit, inbred white-trash fools either. Only dark meat and white meat. There's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart."

"And who the hell is this bitch?" Merle asked, flinching as Elise pressed the arrow into his temple.

"My name's Elise Young." She said in a low voice, sounding even smokier than normal, "You put your hands me or any of these people ever again, I'll put an arrow so far up your ass, you'll be able to use your tongue to wipe it clean of your own shit."

Morales and Andrea shared a look between them, and then looked back at Elise who pushed the arrow against Merle's temple that little bit harder before backing off again. Andrea couldn't believe the young woman's bravery. None of them went off at Merle like that. Andrea came to the conclusion that Elise was either very stupid or had balls of steel.

"Yeah? Well, screw you!" Merle answered.

"I can see you make a habit of missing the point." Rick said, only for Merle to tell him to screw himself again.

So, Rick pulled a gun on him and pointed it at his temple, and Elise put her arrow at the opposite side. Merle was now caught between the two, who realised they made one hell of a team at this point. By the looks on the faces of the others, Merle had this coming, and also they were relieved someone had been able to deal with him properly.

"You ought to be polite to a man with a gun." Rick told him, cocking the gun, "And a woman with a bow and arrow. Only common sense."

"You wouldn't." Merle said, "You're a cop, and she's just a woman."

"All I am any more is a man looking for his wife and son." Rick began, "And she's out here to survive and to find answers. Anybody that gets in the way of that is gonna lose. I'll give you a moment to think about that."

With that, Rick suddenly started searching him which even confused Elise, until he found a wrap of drugs on the man. Elise's eyebrow arched with curiosity. No wonder the guy was acting as bad as this. She figured he was like this anyway, but the drugs would've made it worse. She thought he was on something but now there was definitive proof.

"Got some on your nose there." Rick told Merle, giving him a harsh flick on the nose which cause Elise to let out a chuckle.

Merle started kicking off when Rick threw his stash over the rooftop, and as the others helped T-Dog to his feet, Merle continued to yell. Elise picked up her bag, and then walked over to him. She got down to eye level with him, allowing him to look at her busted lip, which finally had stopped bleeding as badly. Her face had a dark, angry bruise that covered the right side of her jaw, and went under her chin and up to her cheekbone. It was a nasty injury, but thankfully her face didn't want to swell up. Each movement of her jaw hurt like hell, but it wasn't about to stop her talking.

"Want me to kiss that better, sweetheart?" He asked her, licking his lips, "Boy, you're mighty fine."

"Excuse me?" She said in that low, smoky tone again, "Shut your mouth. The noise you're making's enough to wake the dead."

With that she stood up and walked away, not even giving the shouting redneck a second glance.

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed! **

**Thanks for reading so far! **

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	6. Trial and Error

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Thanks for the continued support guys. _**Please** **review!**_When you guys review I know what you want from the story. I know what you think of the story, and I also get to see where you can see or would like the story to lead. I do take reader input seriously. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Happy reading!

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**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Six: Trial and Error**

"You're not Atlanta PD." Morales stated, looking Rick up and down, "Where you from?"

"Up the road a ways." The ex-cop answered, nodding at Elise as she approached the pair.

"Well, Officer Friendly from up the road a ways..." Morales began, "Welcome to the big city."

Elise looked over the ledge at the amount of walkers on the street and she gave a low whistle as she shook her head at the sight. Cursing quietly, she looked around the street to try and find some possible means of escape. She listened to the moans and groans coming from the walkers below and she let out a chuckle. There was no way out, and those drones down there were going to tear them apart. Great.

"We are so fucked." She said, laughing bitterly, "Thank you, God! All that praying I did, all those times I went to church, and this is the fate you give me? Thanks a fucking lot!"

Rick and Morales studied the young woman for a few moments as she cursed at God, and they noticed the black woman staring at her as well. She felt each pair of eyes on her and she hated it. She hated people staring at her. Rick eyed Elise as she glared at him for his unwavering gaze, only to shake his head and let out a slightly incredulous huff. Elise rolled her eyes.

"You use a lot of bad language to say you're a religious woman." He told her, watching her nod quietly.

"Religious people don't have to cut out the curses." She answered, "They just need to believe in the God they worship. God created us as he wanted us to be. He's not gonna strike me down 'cause I say the f-word every five minutes."

Rick chuckled and nodded in response, watching Elise wrap her arms around herself as she stared down at the walkers in the street. She knew that God wasn't around any more. She couldn't feel the comfort she normally did after she prayed or after she thought of God. She felt nothing.

"At some points in my life, God's been the only damn thing I've had to keep me going." She sighed, turning to Rick and Morales as she slowly rubbed her bare arms, "I heard one woman say that this 'Apocalypse' is a test. I don't believe that. He's left us. God has abandoned us."

With that, Elise put her bag back down and sat against it, folding her arms around her knees and resting her head on them. She was losing her faith and her hope. She was starting to question whether this world was worth surviving in. This mess. It wasn't really. What kind of positive outcome was there gonna be? Maybe the CDC would be a good place to head, but to be honest, Elise no longer held out much hope for that working out.

Was there any good in hoping at all?

* * *

"God, it's like Times Square down there..." Andrea breathed as she looked over the edge of the roof.

Next to her stood the woman Elise had come to know as Jacqui, and Elise stood on the other side of Andrea, arms folded as they watched the walkers below them. They'd been up there for a while, trying to figure out a means of escape. It seemed hopeless.

"Well, I wish I was leaning on a balcony at Miami Beach watching half naked men wandering around in their speedos." Elise breathed, "I prayed for that. Look what I get. I get to stand on a roof in Atlanta, watching dead people wandering around who are wanting to eat us. Not exactly what I had in mind."

"I'm sorry if I scared you earlier." Jacqui said quietly, out of the blue, "I didn't think."

"Hey, how could you know?" Elise answered, bowing her head and shaking it gently as she played with her fingers nervously, "You only just met me. I'm sorry I threatened to shoot you, Andrea."

"I'm sorry I pointed a gun at your friend's face." Andrea replied, "And I'm sorry I called you a stupid asshole. I mean, you're pretty cool. Not many people can deal with Merle Dixon the way you did."

"Hey! I can hear y'all bitches." Merle shouted, earning no response from the women, which he didn't like.

Between them they were rolling their eyes and saying curses in their heads in his direction. He was still being a idiot, but Elise just assumed it was because he was still high.

"Half naked men would be a much better sight than this." Andrea said quietly, earning sighs and nods from Jacqui and Elise.

Rick and Morales approached the group, asking T-Dog how the signal was. According to the black man it was as weak as Merle Dixon's brain, which got him nothing but a few glares. The situation didn't need making any worse by Merle getting riled up again. Morales asked T-Dog to keep trying with the radio, but Andrea said that no-one could help them. They really were on their own. Morales explained that they had people outside the city. They would have to find a way out themselves.

"Then she's right. We're on our own." Rick said quietly, "It's up to us to find a way out."

"Good luck with that. These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear. Ain't that right, sugar tits?" Merle said, looking over to Andrea who was looking for a cloth to dab the back of her neck with as she went through Glenn's backpack, "Hey, honeybun, what say you get me out of these cuffs, we go off somewhere and bump some uglies? Gonna die anyway."

"I'd rather." Andrea replied, earning a scowl from Merle.

"What about you, sweetheart?" The redneck addressed Elise next, who simply sat beside her own bag to look for some water.

"Nah. I'd rather too." She replied, rummaging through her bag and pulling out her water bottle to have a drink.

Then Merle said that Andrea and Elise were both lesbians. This only earned him a chuckle from the women who gave each other a wink and began to close up their bags. Elise could see Merle eyeing up her water bottle, so she carefully approached him, noticing him looking at her bruise again. Maybe he was admiring his handiwork.

"You need a drink?" She asked him, watching him nod slowly, "There isn't much left, but... I don't need it. Here."

"He doesn't deserve that." Andrea said darkly, glaring at the handcuffed man as he took Elise's water, "Have you've seen what he's done to your face?"

"He's thirsty." Elise answered, "Like Rick said, we survive by pulling together."

Rick gave her a proud smile, and Andrea nodded solemnly. When Merle said a quiet 'thanks' to Elise, the group almost collapsed. Merle Dixon never thanked anyone. Elise simply smiled at him before going to stand up. Rick noticed her sway slightly as she got to her feet, and he knew she shouldn't have given Merle the last of her water. The pain in her jaw was immense, and now her head was aching, causing the world to spin slightly as she eased herself down to her knees. She allowed the dizziness to stop before once more trying to stand up. Getting to her feet again, Elise swung her bag on her back and adjusted it so it sat comfortably on her shoulders, giving Rick a reassuring smile to let him know she was okay.

"What about under the streets?" Rick asked suddenly, "The sewers?"

"Oh man." Morales breathed, "Hey, Glenn, check the alley. You see any manhole covers?"

The group waited with anticipation as Glenn went to check the alley at the side of the department store. If there was a manhole cover, they might be able to get to safety that way. It was a brilliant idea. There probably wasn't much chance of walkers being in the sewers.

"No, must be all out on the street where the geeks are." Glenn answered, dampening the group's spirits.

Jacqui, however, spoke up next. While Rick and Elise hadn't heard much of Jacqui, she seemed to be a rational and patient woman. Elise found from her apology that she was decent enough. Apologising was hard for a lot of people to do. It took real guts to be able to say sorry.

"Maybe not. Old building like this built in the '20s." Jacqui began, speaking fast, "Big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers in case of flooding down in the sub-basements."

"How do you know that?" Glenn asked, amazed.

"It's my job... Was." She corrected herself, "I worked in the city zoning office."

* * *

Leaving Merle and T-Dog up on the roof, the group headed down to the basement to check out the entrance to the sewers.

Elise was at the front, armed and ready to tackle any walkers who had somehow made it inside. Her arrows were swift and almost silent. At least she could retrieve her ammo indoors where there was a limited threat and not draw anymore danger to the group.

"This is it? Are you sure?" Morales asked as the group looked into the darkness below them.

"I really scoped this place out the other times I was here. It's the only thing in the building that goes down." Glenn explained, "But I've never gone down it. Who'd want to, right?"

As everybody locked eyes on the young Asian boy, he let out a groan. Elise recognised that to be a _'Why is it always me?' _kind of groan.

"Oh. Great." He said quietly.

"We'll be right behind you." Andrea offered.

"No, you won't." Glenn countered, "Not you."

"Why not me? Think I can't?" Andrea said with a grimace, causing Glenn to get a little flustered.

"Speak your mind." Rick said, giving him his chance to give the group his reasons for that comment, and put forward his plan.

The kid was smart. Anyone could see that. He was smart, focused and had been here before. If anyone should be taking charge of this, it was Glenn.

"Look, until now I always came here by myself... In and out, grab a few things... No problem. The first time I bring a group... Everything goes to hell." Glenn explained, "No offence. If you want me to go down this gnarly hole, fine... But only if we do it my way."

The group processed this information and nodded silently. It was clear that this run was a disaster. Everything was falling apart and the group were trapped in the store. If they wanted to get out, Glenn would be the one to tell them how.

"It's tight down there. If I run into something and have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me getting me killed. I'll take one person..." Glenn said, watching Rick raise his hand, "Not you either. You've got Merle's gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you were out in that store watching those doors, covering our ass."

Glenn then turned to Andrea and Elise who looked to him expectantly. Elise put a comforting hand on Andrea's shoulder as she tensed when Glenn spoke to them. She was just scared, and so was Elise, so the small comfort was a help to both of them.

"And you've got the only other decent gun, Andrea. Elise, you have your bow and arrow, so you should go with him." He continued, turning to Morales, "You be my wingman. Jacqui stays here. Something happens, yell down to us, get us back up here in a hurry."

Everyone nodded at Glenn's instructions and it was clear that everyone knew their jobs, so as Morales and Glenn headed into the darkness below, Elise, Andrea and Rick headed back into the main area of the store. Andrea watched as Elise skilfully armed herself with her bow, and gracefully got an arrow ready to aim. She made her apology to Rick for pointing the gun in his face, and she was right about it not being entirely unjustified. Elise wasn't too interested in their conversation. She zoned out of it as she looked around the store. She was running low on clothes. Most of her possessions in that bag were toiletries and hygiene products. She only had a few items of clothing.

Rick watched as she took out the spare bag from her backpack and began to pull some of the clothes from the racking. She saw him looking and just shrugged, beckoning Andrea to join her.

"Come on... What the hell does looting matter now, anyway?" She said to Rick, "I need new clothes. I have maybe two complete outfits at the most and this top is already too small for me. I don't even have nightwear. I end up sleeping in this."

She gestured her pink tank top which she had to keep pulling over her hips. Rick just nodded, allowing her to continue filling the bag. Rick went over to look at the men's clothes and brought some over to fit into the bag as well. At least there was something for just about everyone in there.

When the sound of glass smashing rang out through the store, Elise was quick to zip up the bag, and Andrea hurriedly threw it over her shoulder. Rick aimed his guns at the closed automatic doors which the walkers were now pressing against as Morales, Jacqui and Glenn all emerged from the basement.

"You find anything?" Rick asked.

"Not a way out." Morales answered, looking at the group worriedly.

"Well, we need to find one." Elise replied, feeling a surge of adrenaline rush through her system, "I ain't going down without a fight. I'm certainly not giving up when I finally got some new clothes."

Everyone looked as Andrea held up the bag and shrugged nonchalantly, sharing anxious smiles between them. They were scared, and they knew it would only be a matter of time until the walkers got inside.

"The roof?" Elise suggested, "Let's at least move out of the line of sight."

They quickly agreed with her idea and began to make their way back upstairs to the roof; their only safe haven.

* * *

The group were scouting the street, still looking for a way out. The pain in Elise's face was more intense, and it had now started to swell, just a little. She wondered if Merle had broken her jaw.

"You alright?"

Elise looked down to see T-Dog looking up at her with concern on his face. She simply nodded and resumed her watch over the wall of the rooftop. Merle still sat there, pouting like a naughty child because they weren't willing to release him yet.

"That construction site." Rick began, "Those trucks... They always keep keys on hand."

"You'll never make it past the walkers." Morales said with a sigh.

"You got me and Elise out of that tank." Rick said to Glenn, who had that usual frown of worry on his face.

"Yeah, but they were feeding. They were distracted." Glenn explained.

"Can we distract them again?" Rick asked softly.

"Right. Listen to him. He's onto something." Merle said, causing everyone to roll their eyes, "A diversion, like on 'Hogan's Heroes.'"

"God, give it a rest." Jacqui snapped, earning a surprised look from the others.

"They can smell us. Hear us. See us." Elise said quietly, rubbing a hand over her face, "They're like wild animals. They only act on gut instinct. We ain't gonna get past them. They smell, we don't. It's pretty distinct to them, you know?"

But the look in Rick's eyes gave Elise a worrying feeling. It settled in her gut. A bad feeling. He had a plan, and she knew damn well that she wasn't going to like it. With a sigh, she looked at him, nodding silently and biting her lip.

"What have I gone and said now?"

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed! **

**Thanks for reading so far! **

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	7. Busting Out

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Happy birthday tooo meeee! Hey, guys! Thanks so much for the support with this so far! I'm loving writing it so much. My DVD box set of the first 3 seasons of _The Walking Dead _came yesterday and I got a lot of work done on this fic. I'm taking the day off writing it today, but I've got another seven chapters already written which I will probably spend the day amending and improving.

_**ShadowXMoonlight:**_ Thanks for all your reviews so far! Daryl makes me very happy when I think about him too. I think it's his biceps...

_**shika93:** _I couldn't believe it when I saw all those reviews in my inbox this morning! Thanks so much for all your support!

**_MrsWinchester-Salvatore117:_**Thanks for your review! I'm glad you see potential in this story because I've been worried that I wouldn't do the show justice.

**_PlainJain:_** I'm glad you're enjoying the story and thank you so much for your review!

This fic won't be taken down. It's going to become one of my main projects. My four main projects are on my profile.

Happy reading!

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**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Seven: Busting Out **

"I can't believe we're going through with this." Elise sighed as Rick knelt by the walker's body that had just been dragged into the store.

She was grateful that Glenn and Rick were the ones going out in the streets covered in walker guts. She didn't know if her stomach could take wearing bits of walker. Never mind cutting one to pieces. Rick bent down and quickly searched the corpse, finding a wallet on the man's body. He opened the wallet and looked inside at its contents, which puzzled the others for a few moments.

"Wayne Dunlap. Georgia license. Born in 1979. He had twenty-eight dollars in his pocket when he died..." He began, causing the group to fall silent, "And a picture of a pretty girl. '_With love, from Rachel.' _He used to be like us... Worrying about bills or the rent or the Super Bowl. If I ever find my family, I'm gonna tell them about Wayne."

"One more thing." Glenn piped up, "He was an organ donor."

Elise whispered a near silent prayer for the man as she performed the sign of the cross, just like she did after each prayer. The group respectfully waited for her to finish before looking to Rick for the next move. Each one had dread lingering in the pits of their stomachs, and the thought of what they were about to do was damn near unbearable. Rick picked up the axe he'd found and began to chop away at the walker.

"Oh..." Elise breathed, feeling her stomach churn, "Good God..."

The whole group began to wince and groan at the smell, the sounds and the sight. It was disgusting. Elise never thought she'd be in Atlanta, witnessing a corpse being cut to shreds. Everyone found it tough to witness, but Glenn was the one making the most noise and the most fuss. Poor boy.

"Man, I'm gonna hurl..." Glenn moaned, bending over slightly.

"Later." Rick told him, handing the axe to Morales who took over the chopping.

They were mashing that body into a pulp. It was just a pile of guts and little tiny chunks of walker meat. It was so bad. The smell was horrendous, but the sound of bones crunching and the squishing noises made by the axe hitting tissue was enough to cause Elise to have to fight back hurling. Her stomach was strong, but not this strong.

"Everybody got gloves?" Rick asked, earning nods from the group, "Don't get any on your skin or in your eyes."

"Dig in, folks." Elise sighed, edging forward slowly and reaching into the mess on the floor, picking up some guts and happily rubbing them into Rick's chest, "Enjoy the smell, hon..."

"Oh, God..." Glenn moaned, "Oh, jeez. Oh, this is bad. This is really bad."

"Think about something else... Puppies and kittens." Rick said quietly, looking round as Elise draped some intestine over his neck.

"Dead puppies and kittens." T-Dog muttered, causing Glenn to throw up right in front of them all.

"That is just evil. What is wrong with you?" Andrea asked the black man, shaking her head as she tried to comfort Glenn.

"Next time let the cracker beat his ass." Jacqui said sharply, earning a frown from T-Dog.

T-Dog apologised, but Glenn was still annoyed with him for making him puke. Elise backed away from the pile of vomit. She couldn't bear to be near any more of the disgusting mess. The guts were still being applied, and it was clear to Elise that even Rick had had enough when his face lost all its colour. She knew he needed this to be over, especially when he asked if they smelt like the dead. Elise couldn't speak when the familiar feeling hit the back of her throat that told her she wasn't far off puking. She simply gave him a sharp nod, face paling.

"You gonna be sick?" He asked her as she draped intestine around Glenn's neck, "Just let it out if you have to puke."

"No... No..." Elise answered, moving away and taking deep breaths, "I'm phobic of vomit and vomit_ing_. I can't throw up. I might have a panic attack."

Rick nodded in understanding at the revelation of another strange phobia. Elise was one weird chick. Breaking the awkward silence, Andrea handed Glenn her gun and told him it was there just in case they should need it, and the group headed back up to the roof to watch Rick and the younger man head for the construction van.

The last thing they expected was for the heavens to open when Rick and Glenn were in the danger zone. And down came the rain, cold and heavy. Morales figured it would pass over but Elise didn't think so. The water was enough to wash the guts off of the two people in the street, and possibly the smell too. She could see the walkers beginning to realise that there was a new smell in the air, and her heart leapt into her throat. They were fucked.

"I gotta get down there." She whispered, "They're screwed. They're gonna die."

"What are you gonna do?" T-Dog asked, "You can't do anything for them right now. We'll just have to see what happens."

It wasn't a satisfactory answer for Elise, and she could tell by the look on T-Dog's face that he knew that. But he was right; she couldn't do anything for them without getting herself killed.

"They're running! They're running!" Morales said, handing her the binoculars.

"Don't stand and fight, assholes!" She breathed as she saw them hitting the walkers in their way, "Run! Run, you sons of bitches!"

She watched as they scaled the fence opposite them, keeping an eye on the walkers in the street. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she was barely able to breathe while she watched them scramble to get into the van. Then, she stared after them as they began to drive off... In the opposite direction.

"They left us..." Jacqui breathed, totally shocked, "They've left us!"

"What?" Morales asked, watching the van drive away from them, "Oh, Jesus..."

"M-Maybe they'll come back." Elise said, looking at the others with a worried expression, "Rick wouldn't just take off, surely..."

"Well, you know him better than us!" Andrea exclaimed, wide-eyed and frightened.

"No, he's not that type of guy..." Elise replied, shaking her head and rubbing her now sweating palms on her jeans, "He's not. He'll be looking for another way round."

After a few moments of stunned silence, the group gasped as Glenn's voice came through on the radio. The relief that washed over all of them was incredible. They hadn't been abandoned. As Elise suggested, Glenn and Rick had just had to find a different way to get them, and they were coming back for them.

_"Those roll-up doors at the front of the store, facing the street... Meet us there and be ready."_

They didn't question it. The group began to pack up and leave, sharing bags between them to even out the weight. But, no-one even stopped to so much as think about Merle, who was hollering and still chained to the pipe on the roof. So, Elise turned to T-Dog and took the bag on his shoulder, tightening the strap around her fist.

"T-Dog! Get Merle!" She ordered, shaking with adrenaline, "I'll try and keep the path clear for you downstairs, but hurry!"

With that she sprinted after the others, only to see that walkers were about to get into the building. She hoped and prayed T-Dog and Merle would get out in time. Finally, as the van pulled in, and as the walkers managed to get through into the store, Elise turned to see T-Dog approaching with no sign of Merle. Her heart stopped beating. She wasn't leaving without one of their people. She wasn't abandoning someone like that. They should've let him go as soon as Rick and Glenn got into the van. This wouldn't have happened if they'd just let him go sooner.

"Where is he?" She asked, "Where's Merle?!"

"There's no time for this, we have to go!" Andrea yelled, taking Elise's bags and throwing them into the back of the truck, "Come on, Elise!"

"But what about Merle?" Elise asked angrily, "We should've set him free sooner!"

"Forget him!" Andrea cried, pulling Elise up and into the van, "Help me, Jacqui!"

Before Jacqui could move, T-Dog helped hoist a struggling Elise inside and pulled himself up, wincing at the pain in his side where Merle had punched him. Once safely in the van, T-Dog pulled the door down, and as the guilt began to bubble up inside him, he was barely able to look Elise in the face. The woman had tears in her eyes. Thick, heavy ones. She wasn't angry; that much he could tell, but he knew she was upset. She'd sent him back to get Merle. She'd taken extra weight on her shoulders, literally, so that someone else could be saved, and T-Dog had failed. As he sat down, he managed to give her one look, square in the face, even if only for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry, Elise." He said quietly, "I dropped the damn key..."

Elise just nodded and wiped a tear away that rolled down her face. She didn't know how she could live with herself, knowing she'd left a man up there to die. She should've gone back to get him. Leaving him there was beyond cruel. T-Dog felt just as guilty as she did; that much was obvious. And believe it or not, so did the others.

"Where's Glenn?" Andrea asked, hearing Rick sigh quietly.

"He distracted the walkers with a car. The alarm was blaring." He said, "He should be following us if all went to plan."

They rode in silence for some time before Morales finally broke the quiet, uncomfortable atmosphere. Elise was still upset and so was T-Dog. Jacqui and Andrea seemed to have recovered somewhat from the ordeal.

"Best not to dwell on it... Merle getting left behind." The Hispanic man said softly, "Nobody's gonna be sad he didn't come back... Except maybe Daryl."

"Daryl?" Rick asked.

"His brother." Morales answered, hearing Elise let out a sob in the back of the van, "There was nothing you could've done, Elise."

This didn't make the woman feel any better. As Glenn passed in the red sports car, alarm blaring, Jacqui took it upon herself to move over to Elise and try to offer her some comfort. She took the upset woman into her arms and hushed her, looking to T-Dog and Andrea with a sad expression.

"Shhh, honey." Jacqui spoke softly, "The fault is all of ours. We should've stayed and helped to get him out."

Elise's crying eventually quietened, and she finally got the energy to wipe her eyes and sit herself up. She felt stupid for crying like that, but the guilt was just so overpowering. She felt horrendous. She looked across at T-Dog and reached over to give his hand a quick squeeze.

"He did it to himself in the long run." She said quietly, voice shaking, "He was reckless. Violent. Totally out of control... He needed cuffing to that pipe."

She sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else. The rest of the ride back was quiet, but when the group arrived at their camp, Elise began to question whether staying with them was the best plan. She'd left one of their people to die. She could never forgive herself.

T-Dog tried to encourage Elise to leave the van, but she said she wanted to gather herself for a few moments before meeting everyone. By the time she got up the courage to do it, she headed towards the people with her bag on her back, noticing Rick sharing a loving embrace with a little boy and a brunette woman, who was crying in his arms. She couldn't believe it. He'd actually found his family.

"Elise! Elise, come and meet my wife and son!" He said with a happy sob.

Leading them towards the young woman, he hugged his boy to his chest and kissed him over and over. She felt tears fill her eyes again, but this time she was happy. Rick had found the people he'd gone through hell to get to.

"Lori, Carl... This is Elise Young." He said quietly, "This woman saved my life. She's fought loyally by my side and helped me get here, back to you guys."

When Lori approached her and gave her a warm hug, Elise was taken aback. She held on to the woman in front of her, giving her a weak smile as they parted. She was introduced to each member of the group and made to feel very welcome. But as the day grew dark, all she could think of was Merle. How frightened and desperate he must've been up on that roof. And how the hell were they going to tell Daryl that his brother had been abandoned like that?

* * *

Sitting around the camp that night, the group discussed how they were going to tell the younger Dixon brother about Merle.

"We could lie." Amy suggested.

"We can't lie." Elise said darkly, "I could never live with that. It's bad enough knowing we left him up there."

"We tell the truth." Andrea agreed, "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed."

She looked to Lori with a frown, taking up Elise's point from earlier in the van.

"Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it's nobody's fault but Merle's." She said, "Look at Elise's face. Imagine the damage if we'd have released him."

"And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?" Dale said, eyebrows raised, "Word to the wise... We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared and I ran." T-Dog told the group, "I'm not ashamed of it."

"We were all scared. We all ran." Andrea agreed, "What's your point?"

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time." T-Dog explained slowly, "It's not enough to break through that... Not that chain, not that padlock."

He sighed deeply and looked to Elise who was now glaring at him for not sharing this with her sooner.

"My point..." He continued, "Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."

"Why the fuck did you not tell me that earlier?" Elise snapped, "I could've gone back for him!"

"Elise..." Rick sighed, watching as she stood up angrily and pulled her top over her jeans.

"Tomorrow, when Daryl's been informed, I'm going back to find Merle." She announced, "Don't y'all tell me no. I can't live with this."

"You're gonna go back?" Andrea asked, "That's insane."

"I'm gonna go to Atlanta, bring Merle back, and then I'm outta here. Alone." Elise told them, "That's my final word. I'm not staying. Thanks for the food and the hospitality. I'm going to bed."

With that, she turned on her heel and made her way to the tent she'd been assigned, leaving a stunned group behind her.

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed! **

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	8. Calm Discussions

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N:** Two chapters uploaded in one day? From me? Wow! I felt it appropriate to upload this now. I'm starting chapter fifteen tomorrow, so there will be plenty more to come. Hope you enjoy this, guys!

**ShadowXMoonlight: **In response to your review, you may enjoy where this story is going...

**TWDfan: **I'm glad you're enjoying this fic and you are about to find out what happens in this chapter.

Happy reading!

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* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Eight: Calm Discussions **

The following morning, Elise was up bright and early.

She'd barely slept a wink thinking about the man they'd left behind. Already, she had spent some time with the others at the camp, including Amy who had desperately tried to get her to stay with them. Elise wasn't convinced. Instead, she was focused on preparing to tell Daryl what had happened to his brother. She knew that Daryl 's reaction could be volatile. According to the others at camp, the Dixons had fiery and scary tempers, but that didn't deter Elise. She could be just as fiery and scary. She figured if she could get into the conversation and explain things to Daryl slowly and calmly, he might not lash out at anyone. Unless, of course, he was just like Merle. Amy had described Daryl as the strong silent type compared to Merle, and had said that Daryl only conversed with other people when it mattered. He didn't make small talk.

"You're actually gonna get involved?" Andrea asked, "I know you handled Merle well, but Daryl's different. We don't exactly know how he's going to react."

"I'm not scared of getting involved." Elise replied, smoothing out her new orange gypsy top that she picked up the day before, "I've dealt with bad men before."

As Elise moved away, she looked around the camp as Rick was coming out of his tent. She gave him a weak smile and a quiet greeting before heading back to her tent, ensuring her bag was packed. She wanted to be sure she had everything she needed before leaving the group after her trip to Atlanta. She was determined to go and get Merle back. As she finished checking her supplies, she moved towards Rick and his wife, preparing to ask the ex-cop if she could be the bearer of bad news for Daryl. She figured he might take it better from a woman.

"Hey, Rick..." She began, only to be cut off as screams came from within the trees. Rick and Lori raced to the source of the screams while Elise rushed to get her bow and arrows.

By the time she got to the source of the noise, she found the men all armed, circled around, weapons in hand. She saw Dale cut the head off a walker, which was feeding on a deer that had been shot down. She grimaced at the smell and covered her nose and mouth, trying not to gag. The arrows that stuck out of the deer weren't unlike her own, so she wondered if the mysterious Daryl had been tracking this deer on his hunt.

"Beautiful." She murmured, catching the attention of the men, "What a waste of a good animal..."

"It's the first walker we've had up here." Dale began, catching his breath, "They never come this far up the mountain."

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." Jim said quietly, looking to the others.

A sudden snapping of twigs and rustling of foliage caused the group to spin and Elise quickly got an arrow ready to aim and fire. Shane gave Elise the once over, looking at the pure strength in her arms as she held the bow still and steady. She'd be a great asset to their group. She was headstrong, but sharp-minded. She used her brain logically, and she clearly knew what she was doing with her weapons. The camp would be much safer with her around.

The tension in the air dispersed as a living person came walking out of the trees, wearing a worn, dirty vest and carrying a string of dead squirrels over his shoulder, his crossbow held tightly in his hand. Elise assumed that this must be Daryl Dixon. He didn't really look like Merle. There were a couple of resemblances in his face, but his eyes were different. They were mysterious. Gave nothing away.

"Oh, Jesus." Dale muttered, watching the younger man enter the clearing.

"Son of a bitch. That's my deer!" Daryl's voice was not at all what Elise was expecting, "Look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"

_'Charming.'_ Elise thought, watching as Daryl went to retrieve his arrows. He clearly didn't like people telling him what to do. He pretty much lost his temper at Dale for asking him to calm down. He was going to be hard to keep calm when he found out about Merle, that was for sure. As he removed an arrow, he set his eyes on her for the first time, and Elise felt her breathing suddenly stop. For one split second, the rest of the world faded away when all Elise could look at were those eyes. They were just so piercing she felt like every part of her was under scrutiny. It made her uneasy.

"I've been tracking this deer for miles." Daryl began, finally tearing his gaze from Elise, who quickly let out a breath she'd been holding for several seconds, "Was gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

"I would not risk that." Shane answered, resting his gun across his shoulders.

"That's a damn shame." Daryl said calmly, "I got some squirrel. About a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

The head of the walker, which lay in the centre of the circle of people suddenly began to move again. Elise, wincing and swallowing down bile that immediately rose in her throat, aimed her bow before Daryl could aim his crossbow and shot it straight in the eye. She felt all the men's eyes on her as she reached down and retrieved her arrow, wiping it on her jeans.

"Come on, people, what the hell? Even she knows it's gotta be the brain. Damn good shot too." Daryl said, moving past the men and brushing Elise lightly with his shoulder on his way up the hill, "Don't y'all know nothing?"

When Daryl was on his way back up to camp, Elise turned to the men and stopped them before they followed. She hated the way Shane was looking at her, as thought she was about to say something he could poke fun at. As for the others, they looked at her curiously, shrinking back when she pointed the arrow she'd just shot the walker with at Shane and Rick as she spoke to them. She had narrowed eyes and was staring into the eyes of each of the men. It scared them a little.

"You boys can go ahead and tell him about Merle." She began, slowly waving the arrow between the ex-cops, "But, I think I just earned a little bit of respect from him. So, if your way goes wrong, you let me step in. If I can handle Merle, I can handle him."

"No way." Shane answered, "You ain't getting involved."

"I helped cuff Merle to that roof." Elise snapped, "I am involved. You boys have your playtime but as soon as it goes wrong, I'm stepping in. No question."

Rick just shook his head at Shane as he went to protest, and Elise gave the men a nod before turning back to walk up the hill. She looked on as Daryl shouted Merle, and felt awful that everyone in the group but him knew about what had happened in Atlanta. The poor man was about to have his world turned upside down.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." Shane said as the men entered the camp.

"About what?" Daryl asked, putting his crossbow down.

"About Merle. There...uh..." Shane didn't quite know how to put it, "There was a problem in Atlanta."

After a pregnant pause, Daryl looked around at everyone else and then back at Shane. Elise could see he was already unnerved and knew that this wasn't good news.

"He dead?" He asked, noticing Elise bow her head and swallow heavily.

"We're not sure." Shane replied.

"Well, he either is or he ain't."

At this point Rick stepped in. He gave Elise a look of satisfaction, like he knew how to handle the situation. But Amy and Andrea caught Elise's eye and by the looks on their faces, they thought otherwise. It looked like that they were encouraging her to step in. Her face was still very sore and bruised from the day before. She could at least use that as evidence that Merle was out of control. It might have been enough to make Daryl see sense.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick said, noticing Elise step forward as well.

"Who are you?" Daryl asked, eyeing him and then Elise who put her weapons down.

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes? You got something you wanna tell me?" Daryl asked, getting more agitated by the second.

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal." Rick explained, watching the emotion cross Daryl's eyes, "He's still there."

"Hold on. Let me process this." Daryl was now pacing, angry and upset, "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!"

Suddenly everything flew out of control. Daryl was trying to knife Rick, Rick was trying to restrain him, and then Shane came out of nowhere, tackled Daryl and put him in a choke hold to calm him. It obviously wasn't working.

"Choke hold's illegal!" Daryl yelled.

"File a complaint."

At Shane's sarcastic response, Elise rolled her eyes and marched forward, moving Rick out of the way. She crouched down in front of Daryl, who locked those eyes on hers as she watched a tear slip out of them. He wanted to brush it away so no-one would see his upset; Elise knew that. But with Shane restraining him, he couldn't.

"Shane, let him go." She said, looking up at the ex-cop, "It's okay. Let him go."

Shane looked to Rick, who gave him his permission to let Daryl go with a soft nod of his head. Daryl didn't move when Shane let him go, only to wipe his eyes. The woman in front of him got onto her knees in the dust and never lost her eye contact with him, which puzzled him for a moment. Then it dawned on him that she wasn't scared. She knew Daryl wasn't going to attack her because he clearly didn't want to. She could see it in his eyes.

"My name's Elise Young. I can explain everything to you, Daryl, but I need you to be calm." She told him, looking up at Rick and Shane, "We don't need any of this cop bullshit. It doesn't apply in this world any more."

The comment was directed more at Shane than Rick, and Elise shot Rick a slightly apologetic smile to make him realise that. She looked back to Daryl, got to her feet and held her hand out to him without saying another word. The whole camp was deathly silent. Everyone was amazed at how Daryl had actually calmed down a lot since Elise spoke to him. They were amazed at how well she was handling the situation. But the men were all on guard in case things went awry. It looked like her theory was right. Maybe she had earned a little bit of respect. It might not have been much, but enough to at least get him to listen to her.

"Why don't we go somewhere else? Talk privately?" Elise said, voice quiet and still as smoky as ever, "Away from prying eyes and ears?"

Daryl nodded, still catching his breath from his outburst, and took her hand, allowing her to pull him up to his feet. The group stood gawking at the pair. Dale looked more stunned than anyone else in the group. So much for having their hands full. The young woman looked at Rick and Shane, shaking her heads at them and scowling slightly.

"We'll be back soon."

With that, she and Daryl set off walking just into the woods so that they could talk properly, without anyone else getting involved. When they were out of the way of the others, Elise sat on the ground against a tree and motioned for Daryl to sit opposite her.

"Is this better?" She asked, earning a small nod from the man in front of her, who rubbed a hand over his face, "We regret it that your brother got left behind. But Rick is right. He was a danger to us all and needed restraining. He was standing on the roof of that building firing rounds off, high as a kite, and he didn't care that every walker in the area could hear it."

She waited for a few moments for Daryl to process the information before continuing to explain what had happened. She was giving him time to let it sink in and for the emotion to come through that would help him make his peace with what had happened. She saw nothing but a dark and angry looking face, though. No real emotion. It scared her a little.

"He got into an argument with T-Dog about it, and the pair ended up fighting. Merle hurt him pretty bad." She said calmly, "I tried to intervene, but your brother hit me."

She watched Daryl's expression darken even more as she showed him the bruising and the cuts on her lip and nose. She looked to her hands, folded them into her lap and gazed back up at the man opposite her. She didn't quite know how to read him. He was unpredictable and clearly quite a complicated person. It frustrated her.

"We cuffed him because it was the only way to protect him and ourselves." She said, "We went to get him when we were going to leave, but T-Dog dropped the key down a drain on the roof accidentally."

Daryl stood up quickly and started to pace again, chewing his thumb absently. He had the same tick as she did, it seemed. She stood herself, leaning back against the tree, arms folded over her chest as she thought of the possible outcomes of this conversation. She wouldn't put it past Daryl to turn violent at this point, so she was ready for just about anything.

"I am so sorry that we couldn't get him out." She spoke softly but sincerely, "T-Dog chained and padlocked the door to the roof. The walkers couldn't get to him through that."

"Just tell me where he is..." Daryl said, his emotion betraying his attempt at a calm voice, "So I can go get him."

"I'll show you." Elise promised, "I will head back into Atlanta right by your side, and I'll take you to him. You have my word. I'll face all that danger again if it means bringing him back. I can't bear it that we left him up there. Even if he did almost break my face."

Daryl simply nodded in what appeared to be gratitude before quickly wiping his eyes clumsily with the back of his hand. Slowly, he gave Elise another glance before turning to head back to camp. He was obviously upset, but calmer than he was about five minutes before. As Elise went to follow him, she noticed him turn to her slowly, which brought her to a stop. She had no idea what he was going to do.

"Does it hurt?" He asked, much to her surprise.

She looked at him in confusion, but realised quickly what he was talking about when he indicated her face. Motioning for her to turn slightly so he could see the damage properly in the light, he watched the woman's eyes lose their fearful look and she turned her head slowly. His fists clenched. He was beyond angry that Merle had hit her, and hit her hard enough to cause that painful, dark marking on her face.

"Like Hell." She replied, "Doesn't shut me up, though."

She gave him a small smile, which only earned her a grunt in return. But she followed him regardless and back into camp, only to receive astonished looks from everyone else as Daryl calmly went to sort out the catch from his hunt.

"What'd you tell him?" Elise almost jumped out of her skin as Rick grabbed her arm and pulled her to one side.

"That I'll show him where his brother is. There's no need for anyone else to go." Elise replied, "I'll take him, bring him and Merle back, then get out of your hair. No problem."

With that, she walked away from Rick and towards her tent, loading up her quiver and gathering her weapons for the trip back to the city.

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	9. Back to Atlanta

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N:** Thanks so much for all the support so far. My birthday night out last night got totally ruined, so I'm in very low spirits today, and I wasn't going to upload but I thought I should. I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter and thanks for reading so far.

Happy reading!

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* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Nine: Back to Atlanta**

Elise decided to change into something more suitable for the trip to Atlanta.

Her gypsy top restricted her arm movements when using her bow and arrow, so she decided to change into good old crimson vest top. It provided much easier movement for her. Straightening out her worn boots, Elise stepped out from her tent, bow and quiver across her back and knives in their sheaths which were attached to her brown leather belt. When she saw Rick approaching in his police uniform, she raised her hand to him, shaking her head in protest. He'd just found his family. There was no way he was leaving them again.

"No. You're staying here. Protecting camp." Elise told him, "It'll be quicker with just Daryl and I going."

"Merle being up there is on my head too." Rick told her, "The least I can do is help you go get him."

"So that's it, huh? You're just gonna walk off?" Shane asked Rick, "Just to hell with everybody else?"

"I'm not saying to hell with anybody..." Rick protested, walking past Shane with Elise at his side, "Not you Shane. Lori least of all."

"Tell her that." Shane answered, causing Rick to turn and stop in his tracks.

Elise watched the scene unfold and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring daggers at the pair. There was no time for this. Merle was the priority. Not to mention that bag of guns that was probably still laying there in the street. Yeah, she'd remembered they'd been left behind.

"She knows." Rick answered, leaving Shane looking confused as they set back off towards the centre of camp.

Elise went and stood to one side, knowing that she wasn't to get involved with this argument. Shane and Rick were like brothers. They had to sort this out between themselves. Noticing Daryl standing near the fire, Elise gave him a weak smile and approached him, feeling his eyes on her as she stood next to him. When she looked back up at him, he quickly looked away, gathering his arrows in his hands.

"Well, look, I... I don't, okay, Rick? So could you just... Could you throw me a bone here, man?" Shane asked, "Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?"

"Shane..." Elise muttered, shaking her head.

"Hey, choose your words more carefully." Daryl said, picking up his crossbow.

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant. Merle Dixon..." Shane answered, shaking his head, "The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest us, Shane." Elise said softly, finally stepping up, "We can't let a man die of thirst... Us. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for _anything_ to die, let alone a human being."

Rick just gave Shane an _'I told you so'_ look and gestured to Elise, whose hands went to her hips as she glared at the other ex-cop angrily.

"So you, Elise and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori asked, mouth gaping a little as Rick turned to look at Glenn.

Glenn looked mortified at the thought of going back to the city and began to protest. While they were arguing about who was coming with them, Daryl gave Elise a weak smile of thanks and sat down to make sure his arrows were all in tact. Didn't need any damaged ones going out there. They wouldn't protect him. He noticed her wiping the one she'd hit that walker with on a small blue rag and he realised that maybe there was someone here he had something in common with other than Merle.

"That's just great." Shane huffed, "Now you're gonna risk three men, and one of our girls, huh?

"Four men." T-Dog piped up, causing Daryl to scoff at his offer.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" He said, going back to checking his arrows.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog asked.

"Why you?" Daryl countered, causing the guilt to come back onto T-Dog's face.

Elise looked at the black man and bit her lip. She knew that guilt. It had been with her from the moment they left Atlanta. The people offering to go out were decent and regretted what had happened the day before. They wanted to make it right. Daryl just couldn't seem to get that.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand." T-Dog answered, "You don't speak my language."

"That's four men and one of our girls." Dale said, "Elise, you can't be serious about going..."

"I made a promise to Daryl." She responded, "I gave him my word I'd go with him to get his brother back. Y'all don't have to come with us. Daryl's a good tracker. He and I would do just fine on our own."

"It's not just five of you being risked here." Shane began, "You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp."

"I've already said that Rick doesn't need to come." Elise said, earning a respectful nod from Shane.

"They're moving out of the cities." He said slowly, trying to get Rick to understand, "They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."

"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Rick responded, hearing Glenn pipe up almost excitedly at the revelation that the guns were still out there.

"Right, the guns." He said, causing Shane's head to snap up.

"Wait. What guns?" The ex-cop asked.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns." Elise said, examining the string of her bow carefully, "Rick cleaned out the cage back at the police station before we left. He dropped the bag in Atlanta when we got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up."

"Ammo?" Shane asked, looking to Rick as Elise put her bow back on her shoulder.

"Seven hundred rounds, assorted." Rick replied, watching Shane's face as he realised how much that kind of weaponry would help the camp.

"You went through hell to find us." Lori said quietly, "You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?"

"Dad, I don't want you to go." Their son, Carl said, looking at his dad with concern.

"Rick, I can cope with these three." Elise laughed softly, grimacing at Rick, "Stay here with them. You don't need to come along."

"To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon?" Lori began, "He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in."

"He's worth that to Daryl. Just remember that." Elise said, glaring at Lori, "How would you feel if you had a sibling in this situation, and no-one wanted to go get 'em?"

Lori simply shook her head which pissed Elise off even more.

"Tell me." The brunette said, voice shaking as she looked at Rick, "Make me understand."

Elise saw the way Daryl's body tensed at the way Lori spoke about his brother. They didn't need him getting any angrier than he already was about the situation. But again, he gave her a small, grateful smile for sticking up for his brother. No-one else did that.

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy." Rick began, causing Lori to go to protest, "Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. They were the people Elise left behind. It's because of them, and her that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow us to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap we did if we don't warn him."

Pausing, Lori licked her lips and then raised her eyes again to meet her husband's.

"What's stopping you?" She asked.

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped." Rick replied, "He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"These are our walkies?" Shane asked, earning a nod in response from his best friend.

"So use the CB. What's wrong with that?" Andrea suddenly piped up.

"The CB's fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap..." Shane answered, "Date back to the '70s, don't match any other bandwidth... Not even the scanners in our cars."

"We need that bag." Elise said, moving closer to Rick and his family, "The people Rick's talking about... They're like my family, Lori. They took care of me when I had nothing and no-one left. I need them to be safe."

She watched Lori's face for any kind of reaction, and eventually her features softened. She nodded silently and looked on curiously as Elise turned to Carl, kneeling in front of him.

"I'll take care of your daddy, since he's adamant he's coming along. I promise." She told him, "He won't get into any trouble with me there... Okay?"

Carl gave her a warm smile and nodded in response to her question, smiling wider as she gently rested a hand on his head and stood again, moving away from the small family.

* * *

The atmosphere in the van was beyond awkward. Elise sat between T-Dog and Daryl, and all they were doing was glaring at each other. She was more than happy when they reached the city limits, just so she could get out of there and go and make conversation with someone polite and friendly. She felt like telling them off for it, but for now, she was the only one in Daryl's good books and she wanted to keep it that way.

"He'd better be okay." Daryl said, eyes bearing into T-Dog's skull, "It's my only word on the matter."

"I told you the geeks can't get at him." T-Dog defended himself, "The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us."

"Please..." She said quietly, rubbing her forehead.

She couldn't take any more of it. Her head was pounding, she was tired and she was sick of sitting in between them feeling uncomfortable and vulnerable. If Daryl had a violent outburst she was right in the line of fire. She didn't need any more bruises to her face. To her surprise, the pair of them stopped and looked in separate directions.

"Sorry, Elise." T-Dog said quietly, "Your head still bad?"

"Yep." She said, "Had some painkillers before we left. It should go off soon."

As Glenn brought the truck to a stop, Elise rolled her eyes at both T-Dog and Daryl before going to stand up. She needed to get out of there and soon. The fresh air would do her some good.

"We walk from here." Glenn said, watching as Elise marched over to the back of the truck, opened it up and jumped down angrily, lowering her bow from her shoulder to hold it in her hand.

"Men." She scowled, looking behind her as Daryl and T-Dog followed and the group set off into a comfortable jog.

As Glenn and Elise headed in front, T-Dog, Rick and Daryl jogged close behind. The three hadn't spoken all that much and most of their conversations were hostile. When Daryl was the first to speak up, it shocked T-Dog, who knew Daryl wasn't one to make conversation.

"So, is that Elise a hunter or something?" He asked, "She don't look the hunting type."

"She was a kindergarten teacher." Rick replied, "But she was the champion archer at her college and her high school. That's where the good aim comes from."

Daryl just nodded, watching as the auburn haired woman turned to look at the three men who were falling behind.

"You guys okay?" She asked as quietly as possible, earning a thumbs up from Rick.

Reaching a chainlink fence, the group stopped as Glenn pulled it apart where it had been cut, waiting for Elise to get through. She looked at him quizzically, only for him to gesture for her to climb through.

"Ladies first." He said, panting for breath.

"Who said chivalry is dead?" Elise chuckled, "Thanks, man."

As she waited for the others to get through the chain, they began to discuss what the most logical plan would be.

"Merle first or guns?" Rick asked the group.

"Merle! We ain't even having this conversation." Daryl snapped, looking to Elise for support.

After all, she was the only one who'd stood up for him and his brother so far. She was the only one that gave a damn. Daryl had no idea why she cared, but she did.

"Yes, we are." Elise said quietly, "You know the geography, Glenn. This is your call."

"Merle's closest." Glenn answered, looking up at Rick, "The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first."

Rick nodded and Elise gave Daryl a reassuring smile. She saw him visibly relax, knowing they were heading straight for his brother. The trek to the department store was scary. The dead were everywhere,and getting past them was an ordeal on its own. Getting inside the building took no trouble, though. Glenn knew the streets inside and out. The only problem would be clearing the building of walkers that had gotten in the day before. As the group entered the department store, in formation and silent, a wheezing sound brought them to a halt. Rick spotted a female walker wandering around between racks of clothes. He gestured to Daryl to come forward, and pointed to the walker. Nodding, Daryl approached, crossbow at the ready. He stood in front of his target, raising his crossbow to fire.

"Damn..." He said quietly, "You are one ugly skank."

Elise could've sworn her mouth watered when the muscles in his arm rippled as he pulled the trigger. Collecting herself she approached Daryl with the others, wincing at the sound of him retrieving his arrow from the walkers skull.

"Nice shot." She whispered, grimacing at the smell coming from the body, "Let's go."

Before long, the group were racing up the stairs to the roof. As T-Dog cut the chain with the bolt cutters, Daryl kicked open the door and went to see his brother. Elise went to follow but was stopped when she felt a wave of sickness crash through her insides. She'd not been able to stomach food since the day before and after everything that had happened. She'd not eaten for well over twenty-four hours.

"Elise?" Rick asked, going to grab her shoulders as she hunched forward, "You alright? When was the last time you ate?"

The sound of Daryl's yelling and screaming caught the pair off guard, and Rick steadied Elise before leading her onto the roof, where all they found of Merle was the hand he'd been cuffed to the roof with. Elise bit back tears.

He was gone.

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Thanks for reading so far! **

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	10. Keeping The Peace

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Chapter fifteen is still in progress. The new arrival of a rescue puppy at our home means I'll be quite busy for the next few weeks but I will try to work on this fic as often as I can. Thank you to all who read, review, favourite and follow this fic.

**ShadowXMoonlight: **I agree with the "Mmmmm" part. Elise's reaction to Daryl's muscles was the same as mine. Yes, my mouth actually watered! Thanks for your continuous support. It really, really means a lot.

**shika93: **Thanks again for your reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying the fic!

Happy reading!

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* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Ten: Keeping The Peace**

The sight of Merle's hand and the blood around it led Elise's stomach to finally give in its fight against emptying itself.

The young woman fell to her knees, shaking like a leaf as she knew what was coming. It scared her so much. Just the thought of vomiting was enough to scare her, but knowing it was about to happen was so much worse. Luckily for her, Glenn and Rick had seen her go down and as she tried to calm her breathing and ignore the horrible feeling in the back of her throat, she heard a gentle voice in her ear.

Rick was right there beside her, talking her through it slowly. He never knew a person could be so scared about just throwing up, and he didn't really know what to do or what she needed to calm down. She reached for his hand and gripped it tightly, thankful she'd tied her hair up as she emptied her guts onto the rooftop. She didn't make a single sound apart from the deep breath she took after each time hurled, but the splattering of her vomit as it hit the rooftop wasn't enough to drown out the horrendous sounds of grief coming from Daryl.

"She okay?" Glenn asked, watching Elise's face pale as she struggled to catch her breath.

"Deep breaths, Elise." Rick coaxed her gently, "You aren't going to have a panic attack today. You were sick, but now, you're clean and you're not gonna be sick any more. You're okay."

Elise breathed deeply, trying to ignore Daryl's distress. As the grieving man became quiet, Elise was steadily helped to her feet by Glenn and Rick, who checked her over and made sure she was okay. She felt better, and the colour had come back into her face as she regained control of her breathing and the violent shaking of her body. She smiled gratefully at Rick and wiped the tears from her eyes, leaning over slightly to take more deep breaths of fresh air.

Recovering from the shock of finding his brother's mutilated hand, Daryl was quick to pull his crossbow on T-Dog, aiming it right between his eyes with a loud grunting noise. The group hadn't been prepared, due to dealing with Elise, and therefore they knew they had to quickly jump into action.

And the first to react was Rick, who thought it was a good idea to aim his gun at Daryl's head. Elise could only shake her head and let out an exasperated sigh at their antics. Daryl was clearly distraught, and all Rick was doing was making matters worse. They had to move soon if they wanted to find Merle. She didn't get it. What was it with men and their weaponry? They were acting like they were in a _Die Hard_ movie. All trying to be badass tough-guys.

"I won't hesitate." Rick threatened, "I don't care if every walker in the city hears it."

"Now, now..." Elise said calmly, walking to the group slowly and shakily, "Let's play nicely, boys. No need for any of this stupid macho crap y'all are pulling."

Steadily, Elise reached across and put a hand on Daryl's crossbow, pushing it down away from T-Dog. She also did the same to Rick's gun. It was clear that Daryl was much calmer, and to her amazement, he gave her a respectful nod.

"Thank you." She almost whispered, her expression changing to one of guilt and sympathy, which twisted in Daryl's gut, "I'm so sorry, Daryl. I really am."

He hated sympathy. He hated pity. This woman barely knew him. She barely knew any of them. So why the hell was she so sorry about all of this? Why was she so bothered about his brother; the same man who bruised her face? Why did she care about what he felt? He didn't know. But it was a refreshing change from people judging him, and people avoiding him. He didn't really know how to take it. And then she smiled at him, giving him a gentle pat on the shoulder, which made his feelings conflict even more. Was she his friend? He had no idea. He was never good at reading people.

Now that the atmosphere was calm, Elise stepped away from the trio and gently gestured for Rick to join her, giving Daryl and T-Dog some space. Much to everyone's surprise, Daryl turned to T-Dog and spoke to him in the most civil manner anyone had heard from him before. He was still shaking, though, and still clearly upset.

"You got a..." He began, taking another breath, "You got a do-rag or something?"

Glenn's jaw dropped. Elise had to fight back a chuckle as she saw Rick's face fall into a similar state. She was a master at this, Rick realised. Bringing high energy and high stress situations down into a calm, collected atmosphere was a great skill to have, especially in times like these. When tensions were high, mistakes were made, so someone with Elise's skill was a vital asset to the group.

"Where'd you learn to deal with people like this?" He whispered, watching her shrug her shoulders lightly.

"I was a kindergarten teacher." She said, "You know, people are always gonna get into arguments and confrontations. If you know how to separate kids, it's not that hard with adults. Just gotta try a few different tactics. Its all the same underneath. My father had one hell of a temper sometimes, but I could deal with him just fine. If I could deal with Dad, I can deal with anyone."

They watched as Daryl approached the mutilated hand with the rag T-Dog had given him and Elise let out a quiet groan as he knelt down in front of the limb. There were flies buzzing around it and on it, which sent a whirring sensation through her belly. She grimaced, putting a hand over her mouth and turning away.

"I guess the, uh..." Daryl said quietly, "The saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs..."

He picked up the hand and studied it, giving the others a quick glance to see them all looking grossed out. The noise the flesh made as he turned the hand was enough to cause Elise to cover her ears at the awful noise.

"Ain't that a bitch..." Daryl muttered, wrapping the hand up in the do-rag.

He turned to Glenn, gesturing for him to step closer. Glenn looked more freaked out than Elise had ever seen him when Daryl put the hand in his backpack, and she let out a low whistle, swallowing thickly.

"Man, am I glad I didn't bring my backpack."

"He must've used a tourniquet." Daryl said, looking to the others before picking up his crossbow and going back to examine the blood, "Maybe his belt... Be much more blood if he didn't."

As Daryl started following the trail of blood, Rick beckoned Elise closer as he sent T-Dog to pick up the tools that had been left the previous day. They had promised Dale they'd bring them back, after all.

"You stay at the front with him." The ex-cop said quietly, gesturing to Daryl, "He does respect you. I can see that. You're the only one who can keep him in line, so I need you there with him."

"He needs someone by his side. Not everyone against him." Elise replied, "Try and be a little more positive around him. He's not like his brother. He's okay."

Rick nodded in agreement before placing a gentle hand on her lower back to send her forward to catch up with Daryl. He watched as Daryl acknowledged Elise with a nod, and then he smiled as she armed her bow and arrow and nodded back to Daryl. They'd make a good team while it lasted. She was leaving after they got back, but Rick had no doubt that she'd do well on her own, whether he liked the idea of her leaving or not. As the group entered the building, Daryl wasted no time in shouting out for his brother.

"Merle? You in here?!"

The group descended the stairs, all armed and ready to attack any walkers that came their way. Elise shot a look at Rick and gave him a weak smile, earning one back in return. If Daryl kept shouting like that, they'd have walkers all over them in no time. There was only five of them. That wasn't much in the way of man power.

Moving into an office, Elise put her hand up to stop the others and indicated a walker that was stood growling to itself near the door to the next room. Elise lowered her hand in a way that told them she was going to take this one. Carefully she aimed her arrow and gave a short whistle, almost like she was calling a dog, and the walker turned around to reveal the most disgusting mess of a mouth she'd ever seen.

She quickly released her arrow, hitting the walker square between the eyes and sending it tumbling to the ground. She moved forward quickly and retrieved her arrow, again, wiping it on her jeans before beckoning the others towards her. They headed through the hallway in silence, Daryl slightly ahead of Elise, all armed and ready for any stragglers left in the building. They came across two dead walkers in a room at the end of it, and the smell was enough to make them all wince. You never got used to the stench of a walker.

"Had enough in him to take out these two sons of bitches." Daryl commented, "One-handed."

Spotting the wrench near the second dead walker gave the group the answer as to how he did it. Arming his crossbow, Daryl bent down, making quick work of the string. Elise reused the arrow she'd just retrieved from the walker in the other room. No point wasting ammo she didn't have.

"Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother." Daryl said quietly, "Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails."

"Any man can pass out from blood loss." Rick almost scoffed, "No matter how tough he is."

They continued on silently, only sharing looks and easy-to-understand hand signals. Elise and Daryl moved at the front, both armed and moving gracefully together, scanning each room they passed through. As they got into a kitchen however, Elise recoiled away from the doorway with a surprised cry as she covered her mouth and nose.

"Shit...! You know how people say that burning flesh smells like cooked pork?" She asked, earning nods from the others, "I bet he's cauterised the stump because that smells like sickly sweet cooked pork, man..."

Dreading what they might find in that room, the group edged in warily, noticing the gas rings lit up and the belt, dripping with blood, laying on the cooker top. The burnt flesh on it suggested that Elise's theory was right.

"God, the pain of it..." She breathed, "I can't imagine the agony he must've been in. He's got some balls, I'll give him that."

"Told you he was tough." Daryl murmured, noticing how pale the woman's face had gotten, "Nobody can kill Merle but Merle."

"Don't take that on faith." Rick answered as Elise moved away from the cooker and hunched over, taking deep breaths, "You doing okay, Elise? Can't have you being sick again. You've got literally nothing in your stomach now."

"I'm fine." She replied, holding up a hand and standing back up, looking towards the other end of the kitchen, "Shit..."

"What?" Rick asked, following her as she moved to the window.

"Damn! He busted outta here?" She asked, looking at the bloodied rag on the window ledge before letting out a low whistle, "Jesus..."

"He left the building?" Glenn asked as the others moved to join them, "Why the hell would he do that?"

Elise took deep breaths in the fresh air that came through the window, feeling the little bit of breeze on her face which caused her eyes to roll with happiness. She was so hot and so exhausted, which was contributing to her headache and her nausea.

"Why wouldn't he?" Daryl countered, "He's out there alone as far as he knows. Doing what he's gotta do... Surviving."

"You call that surviving?" T-Dog asked, "Just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out?"

"We left him up there." Elise responded, crossing her arms, "Yeah, his odds aren't great out there, but they're better than the ones he had on that roof. That's on us."

She watched T-Dog and Glenn's expressions as they took in her words and she knew they didn't need reminding of it. But at the end of the day, they'd done what they'd done, and it was their responsibility to find him.

"What's done is done. Instead of arguing about this, we need to think about how to get him back. I don't think he'll have gone that far." She said quietly, "Stop bitching at each other. It's not gonna change what's happened."

"He can't have gotten far with that injury." Rick agreed, looking to an agitated Daryl who was glaring at T-Dog and Glenn, "We could help you check a few blocks but only if we keep a level head."

Daryl turned to Rick and then looked at Elise. What was it about this damn woman? She seemed so wise. She said stuff that made complete sense to him. She stuck up for him, and stood by him. That actually meant something to him. So, he agreed with Rick. She was making the real effort here. She was the one who came up with the plan to go back. She was risking her ass for his brother. The least he could do was take in and listen to what she had to say, even if it meant taking orders from Rick.

"I can do that." He said finally, earning a bright smile from the young woman.

"Only if we get those guns first." T-Dog said, holding his hands up, "I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?"

"Okay." Elise responded with a nod, "Let's find somewhere we can discuss this without the scent of burning flesh in the back of our throats, huh?"

The men all looked to each other, and then followed her as they headed back towards another room to formulate a plan.

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed! **

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	11. Hostages

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **So, chapter fifteen is finished and it is completely my own content with nothing from the show in it. This chapter should show a more ballsy side to Elise, and I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for all the continued support. It really does mean a lot to me!

**ShadowxMoonlight: **I'm glad this story is getting better for you as you read it. I'm really hoping you'll enjoy the future chapters just as much, if not more than this one.

**shika93: **Thanks again for your continued support. It means a lot.

Happy reading!

xxxxxxxxxxx

* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Eleven: Hostages**

"You're not doing this alone." Rick told Glenn as the younger man announced his plan to the group.

Glenn was talking about going out and getting the guns by himself, which sat well with no-one in that bland office. Elise stood chewing on her thumb absently, watching the argument go on between the men. She wasn't going to interrupt the discussion. She trusted Glenn's judgement and his logic. He knew the streets better than anyone. He'd even drawn a cute little map on the floor with a marker to formulate a good strategy.

"Even I think its a bad idea and I don't even like you much." Daryl commented, glaring at the Asian kid who sat on the floor next to T-Dog.

"It's a good idea, okay? If you just hear me out." Glenn began, "If we go out there in a group, we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast."

"He's got a point." Elise said, sitting on the desk behind her, earning a look of thanks from Glenn.

"Look..." The young man continued, placing a black clip on the floor map he'd made, "That's the tank. Five blocks from where are now."

Picking up a scrunched up post-it note, he placed it just in front of the black clip, looking up at an expectant Rick.

"This is the bag of guns. This is the alley I pulled you and Elise into when we first met." He explained, putting a piece of gum on it, "This is where Daryl, Elise and I will go."

"Why us?" Daryl asked.

"Your bows are quieter than his gun." Glenn answered, indicating Rick, "While Daryl and Elise wait here in the alley, I run up the street and grab the bag."

"But you got us elsewhere?" Rick asked with concern.

"You and T-Dog. Right." Glenn replied, placing an eraser on an alley two blocks away on the floor map, "You'll be in this alley here."

"Two blocks away?" Rick asked again, "Why?"

"I may not be able to come back the same way." Glenn answered, "Walkers might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to Daryl and Elise. I'll go forward instead, all the way round to that alley where you guys are. Whichever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me. Afterwards, we'll all meet back here."

"I gotta say it, Glenn, you're one hell of a smart guy." Elise chuckled, "What did you do before all this happened?"

"Delivered pizzas... Why?" Glenn replied, watching Elise and Daryl share a knowing smirk.

* * *

The climb down the fire escape into the alley was quick. Elise remembered the last time they were in this alley. Walkers were attempting to climb the fire escape to get to them. It caused her to shudder, just thinking about it. As she reached the bottom, she sensed a presence behind her and stilled instantly. She hated people coming up behind her like that.

"Hey... It's just me." Daryl's voice was gravelly and quiet, "Just making sure you get down okay."

"Thanks." Elise replied, giving him a small smile, "Sorry... I'm a little paranoid."

Daryl just nodded in response and the trio headed into position down the alley. Glenn quickly removed his outer shirt, leaving him in a dark blue t-shirt and handed it to Elise, who looked at him incredulously. They'd moved quietly, and were all as scared as each other. Elise's heart was pounding hard in her chest, making her feel sick.

"Where do you think I'm gonna put this?" She asked, "In my bra?"

"Tie it round your waist. Anything." Glenn replied, "Just don't lose it. I like that shirt."

Elise quickly took off her quiver and handed it to him, as well as her bow, before quickly fastening the shirt around her waist, tying it off at the side. She murmured something under her breath that the others didn't catch as she quickly got her weapons ready. Men... She cursed men.

"You got some balls for a Chinaman." Daryl said as he loaded his crossbow.

"I'm Korean." Glenn said with a hint of annoyance before taking off into the street.

"Whatever." Daryl replied, hearing Elise snort slightly, "What?"

She just shook her head, watching after Glenn. Her heart was in her throat. She could barely breathe. Daryl watched as she swallowed heavily and aimed her bow, ready to fire at a moment's notice. What if something went wrong? What if Glenn got bitten? What if the guns weren't there? Daryl pulled her next to the dumpster and the pair crouched down. Elise quickly moved forward, keeping hidden from the walkers, but keeping Glenn in sight.

"Whoa, don't shoot me? What do you want?"

Elise shot round at the sound of a young male voice and saw Daryl with his crossbow aimed at a kid who couldn't be more than a teenager.

"Daryl!" She hissed, looking back for Glenn.

"I'm looking for my brother. He's hurt real bad." Daryl told the kid, "You seen him?"

"Daryl!" Elise hissed again, hearing the kid start to shout, "Shut him up!"

When Daryl started asking for answers and the kid continued to scream, Elise saw two guys approaching who she'd never seen before. She had to admit, angry Daryl was kind of hot. It was a long time since she'd seen an angry man who was so sexy. Before she could even throw a punch at the two men coming at them, the biggest of the two lifted her off the ground and threw her down the alley. She hit the ground with a sickening bang, and felt a flood of pain rush through her left hip and leg.

"Fuck!" She swore, looking up to see the two men kicking the hell out of Daryl.

Slowly getting to her feet, Elise pulled one of her knives from her belt and headed towards the men, limping, but moving fast enough to get there before they could hurt Daryl any more. Then she saw Glenn enter the alley. The men were after the bag. When they jumped on Glenn, Elise broke into a run, almost falling immediately due to the pain in her side.

"No, no, no!" She cried, "Glenn!"

By this point Daryl had sat himself up, and she turned just in time to move out of the way of an oncoming arrow, which got the bigger man straight in the ass. Daryl, sweating and red in the face, got ready to shoot again as the men dragged Glenn into a car that pulled up just outside the alley.

"Daryl! Elise!"

Before they could move the car had sped off and Elise had to quickly pull the gate to the alley shut as walkers closed in on them fast. The pain in her leg was so intense that she lost her footing as she stepped back and fell, scooting away as fast as she could from the walkers. All she could hear then was Daryl shouting about kicking the kid's nuts up his throat as Rick tried to calm him. She just laid her head on the floor and let the tears come. She was so relieved to be safe, but so scared for Glenn that the emotion just came pouring out.

"They took Glenn! That little bastard and his homie bastard friends!" Daryl shouted, pointing at the kid who T-Dog was restraining, "I'm gonna stomp your ass!"

"Guys! We're cut off!" T-Dog shouted, watching Elise struggle to her feet with tears streaming down her face, "Elise is hurt! We gotta go!"

"Get to that building! Go!" Rick ordered, watching T-Dog drag the kid away before picking up the bag of guns that was still strewn in the alley, "Elise..."

"I'm fine." Elise snapped, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand before limping to her weapons and putting them away, "Let's get outta here."

"You gonna be able to climb that fire escape?" Daryl asked, earning no response as she just started climbing.

Her left side was obviously causing her pain as she grunted with every step she took on that leg, and by the time she got to the top, she was struggling to walk on it. Rick approached her and carefully took her arm, placing it around his shoulders as he slid one of his around her waist to support her.

"Steady now..." He told her, "Not far to go."

"I just need to sit down... It's gonna be bruised pretty bad for a couple of days." She breathed, "Bastard literally picked me up and threw me, like I was a flimsy ragdoll or something."

"You're anything but flimsy." Rick replied, earning a small chuckle from her.

* * *

Back in the building, tensions were high. Daryl was infuriated. Elise was now sat, easing the pain in her leg, but her arms were crossed over her chest, eyes narrowed. Rick was going to question the young boy, who had a lot of attitude for a kid so young. T-Dog, meanwhile was barely able to believe that plan had gone so badly wrong.

"Those men you were with." Rick began, leaning down to talk to the teen, "We need to know where they went."

"I ain't telling you nothing." The kid replied, face cool and calm.

"Jesus, man, what the hell happened back there?" T-Dog asked, looking up at a fuming Daryl and a devastated Elise.

"I told you, this little turd and his douche bag friends came out of nowhere and jumped us." Daryl replied, pacing back and forth angrily.

"You're the one who jumped me, puto." The kid replied, "Screaming about trying to find his brother like its my damn fault."

"They took Glenn." Daryl said, still pacing, "Could've taken Merle too."

"Merle?" The kid scoffed, "What kinda hick name's that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle."

Daryl went to hit the boy but much to his amazement, in a blur of colour, Elise got there first, hitting the kid so hard he fell off his chair. She grabbed him by the vest and lifted him off the floor so she was almost nose to nose with him.

"If we wanted smartass comments, we'd ask him." She snarled, indicating Daryl, "We ask. You answer. You got that? They took one of ours and we wanna know where he is. If you don't start talking, this fist is gonna start pumping, and don't you start thinking that because I'm a woman I won't beat the shit outta you, 'cause nothing would give me more pleasure than making a mess of your face, kid."

"Elise..." Rick said quietly, "Get off him."

Elise went to Glenn's backpack and reached inside, swallowing down bile as she put her hand on what she was looking for. She looked at Daryl who eyed the do-rag and he nodded at her, unable to take his away from the raging storm in her eyes. She had amazingly fiery eyes when she was angry. She was one of those women who could scare the balls off of any man within a ten mile radius, Daryl could tell.

"You wanna know what happened to the last guy who pissed me and him off?" She asked as the kid got back on the chair, indicating herself and Daryl.

With that, she revealed the do-rag, unwrapped the contents and then threw it in the kid's lap. The boy screamed and jumped out of the seat, hitting the floor hard. Elise was quick enough to yank him up again and sit him in the chair, giving him a glare that could put every living person six feet under.

"We'll start with the feet this time! You tell us where he is, 'cause my patience is wearing thin." She snarled, leaning forward so she had arms on either arm of the seat, "I also wanna kick the shit out of the fat fuck who threw me down that alley. Maybe I'll take his feet too."

"The men you were with, they took our friend." Rick said calmly, moving Elise out of the way, "Ignore her. All we wanna do is talk to them, see if we can work something out."

Elise felt the pain shoot back up her leg as the adrenaline of the past events died down. Rubbing it slowly, she felt the heat and pain intensify, and she let out a long loud groan, as well as a few curses as she started to sink down slightly. Daryl carefully turned her and eased her down onto the desk next to them, looking at her with just a hint of concern.

"I'm okay." She told him through gritted teeth.

When they looked back at Rick, the smile on his face told them the boy was going to lead them to Glenn. Elise was relieved. Maybe their friend would come home safe after all.

* * *

With T-Dog heading off towards a higher spot nearby the abandoned building the boy had led them to, Elise, Daryl and Rick were left on lower ground. As Rick loaded his gun, Elise picked up her bow and gave the ex-cop a nervous smile. They had no idea what they were walking into and it made all of them scared for Glenn's safety as well as their own.

"One wrong move, you get an arrow in the ass." Daryl warned the kid, "Just so you know."

"G's gonna take that arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours. Just so you know." The boy replied snottily.

"G?" Elise asked, watching the teen warily for any sign of him wanting to pull a fast one on them.

"Guillermo. He's the man here." The boy replied, watching Elise with fear as she pulled her knives out and checked the blades.

"Okay then." Rick said quietly, "Let's go see Guillermo."

Elise picked up her bow again after she'd sheathed her knives, and Daryl watched her elegantly draw an arrow and get ready to aim. She took a deep breath, trying hard not to limp on her injured leg as they walked out into the open towards the large doors of the building. Pushing the boy in front, Rick watched Daryl help Elise carefully into the yard through the chain fence, and they made their way closer to the hideout of the men who took Glenn.

When the doors opened and a man an inch or so smaller than Elise walked out she fought to contain the laughter that was ready to burst out of her mouth. She simply flared her nostrils and bit down on her lip, fighting to keep a straight face. She had to laugh at arrogant men who were shorter than her and thought they were a big shot. It was pure entertainment for her.

"You okay, little man?" He asked the teen, not even acknowledging Rick, Daryl and Elise.

"They're gonna cut off my feet." The boy said worriedly.

"Cops do that?"

"Not him." The kid began again, "This bitch and her redneck boyfriend. They cut off some guys hand, man, she showed it to me."

"Shut up." Elise snapped.

"That's him!"

Looking behind Guillermo, Elise saw the fat bastard who threw her down the alley emerging with a handgun. He was yelling about Daryl, who looked more and more angry by the second. Elise glared and aimed her arrow right between his eyes. What she wouldn't give to take him out at that moment. That man had made her a liability to her group.

"He shot me in the ass with an arrow!"

"That's what you get for throwing her around, man." Daryl answered, watching the look on the smaller man's face change, "Yeah, he picked her up and threw her down that alleyway."

"This true?" Guillermo asked his friend, who nodded in response, "Well... Apologise to the lady, Filipe."

"I don't want his apologies." Elise snapped, "He can take 'em and shove 'em up his ass along with my buddy's arrow."

"We were hoping for a calm discussion." Rick stepped in, shooting a warning look Elise's way.

"You fascinate me." Guillermo replied, not budging an inch.

"Mistakes were made. On both sides."

Guillermo stopped, studying the trio for a few minutes, giving Daryl the once over and then Elise. Elise fought to suppress a shudder. She hated being looked at that way, no matter how innocent it was. It brought back some of the worst memories of her life when someone looked at her like that. Shaking the horrid thoughts from her mind, Elise looked back at the men in front of her, eyes narrowed and focused.

"Who are these two to you anyway?" He asked, "You don't look related."

"They're part of our group, more or less." Rick replied, "I'm sure you have a few like them."

"You got my brother in there?" Daryl asked, edging forward a little.

"Sorry, we're fresh out of white boys." Guillermo answered, "But I got Asian. Interested?"

"We got one of yours. You got one of ours." Elise said, moving closer herself, "Sounds like an even trade."

"Don't sound even to me." Guillermo replied, looking her up and down again.

"G..." The boy cried, "Come on, man."

"My people got attacked." Guillermo said quietly, "Where's the compensation for their pain and suffering? More to the point, what about my bag of guns?"

"Our bag." Elise corrected, indicating Rick, "He and I own that bag of guns."

"What's to stop my people unloading on you now? Taking what's mine?" Guillermo threatened as his homies loaded their guns.

Elise, Daryl and Rick stood firm, ready to fight at any moment. The whole situation could blow up in their faces, and they could end up dead, leaving Glenn to God knows what fate. The three of them knew that they were definitely strong enough to try and fight, no matter what the consequence.

"You could do that." Rick scowled, looking up to the rooftop where T-Dog was aiming right at Guillermo's head, "Or not."

Guillermo looked straight at T-Dog and then hollered something up to the roof of his building, and Elise's jaw dropped in horror as Glenn was dragged to the edge of the roof with a bag over his head. The bag was removed and Glenn was found to be gagged, making Elise's stomach churn.

"You son of a bitch." She breathed, glaring at Guillermo before taking out another arrow, lining them up on her bow and turning it sideways.

She was aiming both at Guillermo and Filipe. Daryl stared at her, mouth slightly agape at the fire in her eyes. Would she actually be able to hit them both if she had a chance? When he realised he was staring, he quickly looked away and stared back at the small man in front of them.

"I'll give you two options. You come back with Miguel and my bag of guns, and everybody walks." Guillermo said, "Or you come back locked and loaded, and we'll see which side spills more blood."

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed!  
**

**Thanks for reading so far!**

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	12. Never Judge A Book

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Hi, guys! Well, I only have three chapters of this fic left that are ready to publish. I can tell its going to be a long one, so I'm going to get as much writing done as I can today, and then try and get at least one chapter a day written after that. With me going back to work tomorrow after my ten day break, my writing will probably need to be done before I start work and probably on my days off, so the publish rate may start to slow down. But I am determined not to abandon this fic.

**ShadowXMoonlight: **I love reading your reviews. I miss those kinds of reviews. I hope you stick with this fic and keep reading because I have plenty of ideas for future chapters.

**shika93: **Thanks for continuing to read and review. It means a lot.

Happy reading!

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* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Twelve: Never Judge A Book**

"Them guns are worth more than gold." Daryl spoke quietly as the group began to sort through the weapons they had, "Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table. You gonna give that up for that kid?"

"Daryl!" Elise scolded, wiping her eyes and sniffling, "Look, why don't I trade myself, huh? It's my fault Glenn's in there and I was gonna be leaving you guys anyway... That way you keep the guns and get Glenn back."

"We ain't even having that discussion." Rick said lowly, "It's out of the question."

"She'd be a welcome addition." The kid said, looking Elise up and down and then turning to look at Daryl, "Though, I'm not sure if the boys would want her now she's been near your redneck ass."

"You wanna hold on to your teeth?" Daryl asked, hitting the boy, who they'd learned was called Miguel, over the head.

"Question is... And more to the point..." T-Dog began, looking at Elise as she shuddered and ran her hands over her arms, "Do you trust that man's word?"

"No, the question is, what are you willing to bet on it?" Daryl replied, "Could be more than them guns. Could be your life. Glenn worth that to you?"

"What life I have, I owe to him." Rick stated, "Elise too."

"Absolutely." Elise agreed, wiping her eyes again before looking up at Daryl, "I came all the way back here for the man who did this to my face. You really think I'm gonna leave Glenn? We were nobodies to him. Just two idiots stuck in a tank. He could've walked away, but he didn't. Neither will we."

"So, you're gonna hand the guns over?" Daryl asked, looking between Rick and Elise.

"I didn't say that." Rick replied, "There's nothing keeping you and T-Dog here. You should get out. Head back to camp."

"And tell your family what?" T-Dog asked, rubbing a hand across his forehead.

Rick looked at the black man, and then to Daryl. Daryl looked down at Elise, noticing how worried she was. How upset she was. She'd been crying for most of the journey back, and it hadn't been easy to console her. She was blaming herself the whole time. _'I should've picked up the guns. I should've got to Glenn. I should've shot those bastards...' _Rick had finally got her to calm down in the end, but it had taken a while. But Miguel had loved it, which only fueled the tempers of the others, Daryl especially, Rick had noticed. Seeing her get upset had made Miguel's day.

Elise had made a plan to go and help Merle and get Daryl his brother back. She risked her life out here for his brother, who Daryl knew damn well wouldn't return the favour. It was a brave thing to do, and she wasn't getting any real benefit out of it. In Daryl's mind, that was enough for him to stand by her in this. Without a word, he stepped forward and began to look through the bag, picking up a handgun and giving it to Elise. He watched her load the gun, making sure Miguel stayed sat down in the corner where he was told to.

"You know how to shoot, right?" He asked, her hearing her laugh in response as her tears finally subsided.

"Of course I do." She told him, sniffling slightly, "You don't think I used guess-work to load this thing, do you?"

"Just do what G says." Miguel whined like a spoilt kid, knowing he was probably going to be stuck with these people when they didn't do as Guillermo had wanted.

The group ignored him and continued to lock and load, before gagging the kid and heading back to G's place. They marched in, side by side, guns in hand and ready to fire at any given moment. When the doors to the brick building opened, Daryl shoved the kid forward with his gun and marched inside, Elise, Rick and T-Dog following closely. The men watched them all as they entered the building, dumbfounded that they had the balls to come back. Guillermo stepped forward cockily, looking the teen up and down.

"I see my guns." He said, moving his gaze to meet Rick's, "But they're not all in the bag."

"That's because they're not yours." Rick answered, "I thought our lady here mentioned that."

"I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation." Guillermo retorted, looking angrier.

"I certainly think gravity fully appreciated you, short-ass." Elise snapped, "Give us our man."

"I'm gonna chop up your boy." Guillermo said, moving forward and getting right in Elise's face, "Feed him to my dogs. They're the evilest, nastiest, man-eating bitches you ever saw."

"Oh, God... I'm shaking in my boots." Elise replied, rolling her eyes and looking rather bored.

It was the same stupid macho crap again. Whether it was the situation, this particular group of people, or just men in general, she didn't know. But she knew that each man here was a tough guy wannabe and it was frankly pissing her off. Glenn's life was at stake and all the could do was stand there trying to negotiate like they were in some stupid action flick.

"I told you how it has to be." Guillermo said, getting up in Rick's face, "Are you woefully deaf?"

"He ain't, but you're woefully short." Elise told him, causing the others, and even some of G's cronies to smirk.

"My hearing's fine. You said come locked and loaded." Rick said quietly, cocking his gun.

And with that, Elise, Daryl and T-Dog all armed their guns, ready to fire. The air got thicker with tension as G's men got ready to fight. As they waited for the first gunshot to ring out, a small female voice sounded from the herd of men, and it didn't come from Elise. Elise's eyes darted around frantically, looking for the source of the voice. She wasn't going to put someone in danger who wasn't a willing participant in this stupid charade.

"Filipe! Filipe!"

Then, a very small old lady came out from behind the crowds of men, and Elise almost lowered her gun. Now, there'd be no shooting. Not with this sweet, little elderly woman in the way. Why an old lady was stuck with all these men, Elise didn't know, but now there was a good excuse for no-one to get hurt. She looked at T-Dog, who could only shrug in confusion at the unfolding scenario.

"Abuela... Go back with the others now." Filipe ordered, but the little woman came forward anyway, mentioning something about someone needing asthma medicine.

"Who are those people?" The lady asked, stepping forward to the three men and Elise, "Don't you take him! Filipe is a good boy. He have his trouble, but he pull himself together. We need him here."

Elise shot a look at Daryl and bit her lip. The poor woman thought they were there to arrest her grandson. She lowered her gun slowly, running a hand over her mouth as Daryl ever so slightly lowered his crossbow. Even Daryl, as hardened as he was, would never let a frail old lady like her get hurt in this situation.

"Ma'am... I'm not here to arrest your grandson." Rick told her calmly.

"Then, what do you want him for?" The lady asked again softly.

"He's..." Rick began, hearing Elise cut him off as she stepped forward.

"He's helping us find a missing person, Ma'am." She said slowly, "Fella named Glenn?"

"The Asian boy?" The old lady asked, "He's with Mr. Gilbert. Come. I show you."

And just like that, everything was over. Daryl gave T-Dog a look of complete surprise. Elise and the little old lady had just completely defused the entire situation in the space of a few seconds. Giving her friends a warm smile, Elise began to follow the lady, and the men allowed the others to accompany her. Holding onto Elise's hand, the old lady led the group around the building to where Glenn was being held. Much to the group's surprise they were led to a nursing home.

Elise's jaw slackened at the sight of the elderly people being taken care of by younger people. It was the last thing she had expected this bunch of buildings to be. This could've been a bloodbath, and if they'd killed those men, who would be left to care for these poor, vulnerable people. She turned to look at Rick, Daryl and T-Dog, shaking her head in disbelief. It was incredible. The gangster thing was a façade. They were only taking care of elderly and sick people.

"Glenn..." Elise breathed as they got into the main hall.

The biggest smile Rick had ever seen painted itself on her face, and she jogged towards their friend, wrapping him up in an embrace. He spotted her and gave her a big smile in return, and he started to laugh as she squeezed him tightly in her arms. He'd not had someone be so thrilled to see him in a long time.

"Thank God, you're okay..." She whispered, looking over his shoulder to see some chihuahuas sitting in a leopard print and pink basket, "Oh, good Lord!"

She started to laugh incredulously as the dogs barked at her and then looked at Guillermo who rolled his eyes at her. He knew she was about to make a joke about the dogs. She carefully stepped closer to them, smiling at the tiny creatures. Daryl and T-Dog smirked at each other as her laughing subsided. It was good to see Elise happy and laughing after the incident earlier.

"These are your attack dogs?" She laughed loudly again, clutching her hip when it started to hurt her, "Oh, man... I wouldn't even call this a dog. Look at it..."

"It's a chihuahua..." Guillermo told her, only for her to giggle in response.

"Ain't no dog." She chuckled, "That's a duster... Put a stick up it's ass and clean the ceiling with it."

When she laughed again and took a step forward, though, her foot slipped slightly on the floor and it sent a horrendous, burning ache through her injured leg. She let out a yelp of pain as her body began to sink to the floor, and she She wasn't gonna be able to move very well for a while. Much to everyone's surprise, Daryl raced forward and caught her before she hit the floor, trying to help her to her feet.

"You've got medical supplies..." He said, looking at Guillermo, "She needs a compress for her side. It's bruised to high hell, no thanks to him."

"Filipe..." Guillermo said, turning to the man with the busted ass, who looked at the floor with a guilt-ridden expression, "Go and get her a compress."

He turned back to Daryl, gesturing for him to take her to Filipe. Sliding her arm around his shoulders, Daryl supported Elise and began to walk her slowly after the other man, who was still holding a towel to his ass which was still bleeding from the hunter's arrow. Daryl gave T-Dog, Glenn and Rick a nod as he continued to support Elise, who was clearly in a lot of pain.

"You need to take your jeans down." Filipe told her as they entered and empty room.

Daryl, after setting Elise down on the room's couch, respectfully looked away as she slid her jeans down. Filipe handed her a towel to cover herself with and then got her the cold compress. It wasn't an ice pack but it was cold water, and that was enough to just soothe the soreness a little. Elise looked up at Daryl sheepishly, trying not to show how much her leg hurt. She didn't like to show that she was in pain.

"You okay?" Daryl asked as he sat beside her, "You carry on like this you're gonna have bruises everywhere."

"When you're done, just put the compress on the table. I'll deal with it later." Filipe told them as he handed her the compress, leaving the pair in the room alone.

"I'm okay, Daryl." Elise said quietly, "Thanks."

"So, when we get back... Where are you heading off to?" Daryl asked her, watching her wince as she pressed the cold, wet cloth against her thigh.

"I dunno... Just somewhere I guess." Elise answered, "I haven't really thought about it that much. Been kind of distracted."

"How about you don't go?" Daryl suggested, "I mean, we could use someone with your sense around camp. You got a damn good range of experience with weapons... And besides... I don't wanna be stuck with people who don't even like me. At least you make an effort to talk to me."

"Are you asking me to stay...?" She replied, eyebrow arched, "Really?"

"I know the others want you to stay. I guess you're okay." Daryl answered, "Not bad for a teacher anyway."

Elise started laughing quietly as she dabbed the bruises on her side. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, and when Elise felt very little pain, she slipped her jeans back on and stood up slowly, heading back to the others with Daryl at her side.

* * *

"Admit it." Glenn said as the group headed back towards the van to go back to camp, "You only came back to Atlanta for the hat."

"Don't tell anybody." Rick replied, hearing a soft chuckle come from Elise who winced slightly at the pain in her leg.

"You've given away half our guns and ammo." Daryl said, shaking his head.

"Not nearly half!" Rick protested.

"For what?" Daryl asked, "Bunch of old farts who're gonna die of momentarily anyhow. Seriously, how long do you think they got?"

"How long do any of us?" Rick asked as they approached the chainlink fence.

To their horror, though, the van was gone. How were they going to get back? Elise couldn't walk all that well. Daryl and Rick had been helping her a lot of the way here so far. She headed closer to where the van had been, limping and stumbling as she moved forward.

"Some bastard stole our van!" She yelled incredulously, thinking for a moment before scoffing and cursing, "Merle. He's stolen our ride!"

"He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp." Daryl said, looking to the others, "We may have to run back."

"Run?!" Elise huffed, "I think it's gonna be a case of hopping for me."

"We'll take it in turns to carry you." Rick replied, handing the guns to Glenn and moving over to the young woman, "Fireman style."

"What?!" Elise shrieked, "Great! I have to spend the whole journey home staring at your asses and getting my boobs bounced around like tennis balls?"

"I thought you'd prayed for men in speedos." T-Dog laughed.

"We're not quite men in speedos, but at least you can check out our asses." Glenn chuckled, setting off jogging with T-Dog and Daryl.

* * *

By the time the group reached the camp, all they could hear was screaming and guns being fired. Everyone looked at each other, bile rising in their throats at the thought of what was happening. Was it Merle? What if he was pulling the same stunt he did on that roof. Every walker in the area would be drawn to that noise.

"Oh, my God!" Rick breathed, looking to Elise who dropped to the floor from T-Dog's shoulder and began to run towards the noise, "Elise!"

Daryl was hot on her heels, barely able to believe the speed she moved at as they came across walkers invading the entire camp. She cocked her gun, opening fire on every walker she saw. He was shooting walkers left right and centre as the camp became slowly infested, but all the time he was keeping an eye on Elise. T-Dog fired in panic, and so did Glenn, but Elise kept her breathing calm and controlled, aiming carefully before firing at the horde of the dead that kept coming from the woods.

By the time the walkers had all been taken down, Elise felt the throbbing return to her left side, and as the air left her lungs breath by breath, she lowered herself to the floor. The hunger, fatigue and injuries were finally catching up with her, and as she looked around at the devastation in front of her, she felt her stomach drop and her throat constrict at the sight of the people who had been killed in the attack on camp.

"Elise..."

Glenn was quick to lift Elise off the ground, turning her round so she was sat properly. She was shaking, and tears were falling from her eyes but she wasn't making a single sound. She met eyes with him for a brief moment before looking around at everyone else, and when she saw that Amy was laying dead on the floor, her heart sank. She wasted no time in gripping Glenn's shirt and pressing against his chest, unable to stop the sobs slowly coming out of her mouth. Glenn looked around him at the devastation and breathed out a small sob of his own.

So many were dead.

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	13. Goodbyes

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **So, due to me doing four and a half extra hours of overtime today, I've lost a day of working on this fic. Hopefully chapter sixteen will be done by tomorrow, and then I can do more work at the weekend. Work drains my muse entirely, so I apologise if writing and upload rates are slower.

**ShadowXMoonlight: **I'm so glad you enjoyed the last chapter. If there's anything you want to see in particular in this story then just PM me.

**shika93: **As always, your support is valued and welcomed.

Happy reading!

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* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Thirteen: Goodbyes**

Elise hadn't spoken since the end of the battle with the walkers.

She'd helped clear up the bodies. She'd taken her orders. But she hadn't spoken a single word to anyone. She'd retrieved all of her arrows and cleaned them. She'd done anything but eat or rest. Her leg was causing her a fair bit of pain but she didn't care. The bruises on her face were starting to heal, and that no longer hurt her, but again she didn't care. Andrea was still sat by Amy, silent, staring at her sister's dead body, know that her body was going to come back as a monster. Elise knew that if it weren't for her being so adamant that she had to go and find Merle, the camp would've been saved. People would still be alive that were now gone.

Daryl was in charge of ensuring the bodies wouldn't come back. A pickaxe was what he was using, driving it through each of their skulls. The work was heavy, messy and exhausting, but he made damn sure to stay focused on it. The sooner it was done, the better. While he worked, however, he kept stealing glances at Elise as she made trips to her tent, and came back red-faced with thick, heavy eyes. He knew she'd been crying. He wasn't surprised with the looks everyone was giving her. These people were always to quick to judge. He knew that better than anyone. What he didn't know was that she'd made her decision. She was going to leave after all, because she was to blame for this. Everyone's eyes said that and she could feel the anger radiating from them. She could tell when they looked at her that they blamed her for the deaths that had occurred here. Camp had been left unprotected, and that was on her.

She was going to make one more trip back to her tent, and then sneak away quietly when no-one would see. That would be easiest thing to do, and she was determined to get away quietly. She was about to make it out of the group's way and up the dirt road and start again, away from any drama that came with other humans. She was prepared to be alone, and at that moment, that thought didn't really bother her. But, the sudden feeling of a hand on her arm caused her to startle, and pulling one of her knives from its sheath, she spun and grabbed the throat of the person responsible. She met eyes with Daryl, who stood there sweaty, dirty, and now looking slightly intimidated as her grip loosened around his neck.

"I thought you were staying." He said quietly as she released his throat quickly, "Why you running?"

"This is on me." Elise said, voice raw from the lack of use over the night, "I wanted to go and get Merle. I took valuable people away from the group and lives have been lost because of it. I'm not needed here. I'm not wanted here. They all blame me."

"They only got themselves to blame. They left Merle for dead. This is karma coming back and biting 'em on the ass." Daryl said, watching tears leave her eyes again as she lowered her knife.

"I was one of the people who left him for dead." Elise answered, nodding her head, "I'll just go... Find somewhere to hold up. I'll be fine."

"Like hell you will." Daryl told her, "You're coming back to camp. I ain't letting you go out there by yourself."

Elise didn't know what to do. Why did she want to go back so badly? Was it the chance to gain a new family? Was it because she wanted to spend time with Daryl? Was it because she wanted to earn her place? She had no idea. As she adjusted her backpack, Daryl took the opportunity to take it from her, and start walking back towards camp with it, which left her looking stunned as she watched him moving away from her. He beckoned for her to follow him and she did, slowly with her head bowed. It looked like she wasn't going after all. She got to her tent, took the bag from Daryl and put it inside, before going to rejoin the group.

After hearing Jacqui shouting about someone being bit, Elise hurried towards the group and found them all surrounding a very frightened and panicky Jim, who apparently had been bitten. Again, Elise faced the prospect of watching a human turn. When they revealed the bite, all Jim could say was that he was okay, over and over. _"I'm okay... I'm okay..."_ The poor man was obviously scared to death, terrified of what would become of him. What would they do with him? They called a huddle, which Elise stayed away from until Shane beckoned her forward to join them. She didn't know if it was right for her to go and take part in it. She barely knew any of the group and had maybe spoken to Jim once, if that.

"You're part of this group, Elise. You got a sharp mind. We'd value your input on this matter." Shane said quietly as she began to step forward slowly, obviously uncomfortable with all eyes on her.

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head. And the dead girl's, and be done with it." Daryl suggested, earning glares from the others, Elise included.

"Is that what you'd want if it were you?" Shane asked him.

"Yeah, and I'd thank you while you did it." Daryl replied, earning a roll of the eyes from Elise.

"I hate to say it, I never thought I would..." Dale said with a worried expression, "But maybe Daryl's right."

Surely, Dale wasn't thinking of just putting Jim down. Elise knew he must've been thinking of something else. But she also knew that no-one would give him a chance to explain. No-one in this group gave anyone a chance to explain their thoughts and things they say. Everyone just jumped to conclusions.

"Jim's not a monster, Dale. Or some rabid dog." Rick snapped.

"I'm not suggesting that..." Dale tried to defend himself.

"He's a sick, sick man!" Rick continued, getting stupidly angry, "Where do we draw the line?"

"The line's pretty clear." Daryl answered, looking at the group as if each of them needed locking up in an asylum, "Zero tolerance for walkers, or them to be."

"What if we can get him help?" Elise suggested, earning an incredulous look from Daryl, "We heard the CDC was working on a cure."

"I heard that too. I heard a lot of that before the world went to Hell." Shane responded calmly.

"What if the CDC's still up and running?" Rick asked, hands on his hips.

"Man... That is a stretch right there." Shane replied, looking to Elise who simply rubbed her index finger and thumb over her eyes.

"Why?" Rick asked, "If there's any government left, any structure at all, they'd protect the CDC at all costs. I think it's our best shot. Shelter, protection."

"You want those things, okay? I do too." Shane interrupted, "Now, if they exist, they're at the army base. Fort Benning."

"That's a hundred miles in the opposite direction." Elise muttered, "But then again, it's away from the hot zone. If it's operational, it'll be heavily armed. We'd be safe there too."

"The military were on the front lines of this thing." Rick replied, "They got overrun. We've all seen that."

Dale noticed the look Daryl gave Rick when the ex-cop spoke to Elise so rudely. Then, he watched as Daryl's eyes fell to a clearly upset Elise, and he moved slightly closer to her. It amazed the old man to see Daryl looking so concerned for another member of the group. Elise bowed her head and closed her eyes, biting her lip. She didn't feel like her input was being valued. Rick talked down to her as if she were a child and that didn't sit well with her at all. She should've ignored Daryl. She should've just kept walking.

"The CDC's our best choice, and Jim's only chance." Rick continued, watching Elise nod as she looked to the others.

"Then I agree with you. If you'll excuse me..."

With that she took off towards her tent, unable to bear standing there any more. They were talking like Jim wasn't there. Like he couldn't hear them. She sat herself down, closed her eyes and began to pray for Jim, and that the CDC may bring them the safety they needed.

* * *

Later in the day, the group were sitting around the fire quietly, waiting to hear the plan of action. Andrea, bless her, was finally getting some sleep. Elise, while everyone tried to coax her to get her rest, didn't sleep. She couldn't face it. She'd eaten a little bit of food, not that she enjoyed it, just to get people to back off.

As Dale, Rick and Shane emerged from the woods, Shane wasted no time in speaking to the expectant survivors.

"I've, uh..." He began, taking a seat, "I've been thinking about Rick's plan. Look, there are... There are no guarantees either way. I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time."

He made sure that at this point, he was looking up at Rick, so everyone would pay attention to what he was about to say.

"I trust his instincts." He continued, "I say the most important thing here is, we need to stay together. You included, Elise. Don't want you going off again like that. So, for those who agree... We leave first thing in the morning."

Elise looked up surprised, and then shot a look at Daryl who merely shrugged his shoulders. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she processed what had happened. Was Daryl actually looking out for her?

"Yeah, that's right. He told me." Shane said giving her a stern look, "Nobody blames you for what happened here last night. You were trying to do the decent thing yesterday and you can't be held accountable for us not being more aware of what was happening around us. You're a valuable member of this group. We want you with us. You're strong, loyal, dependable and capable, and you risked your life yesterday for people you barely know. You've done a lot more than earn your place here, okay?"

Elise, embarrassed by the looks everyone was giving her, simply nodded and looked away from all of them, down at her knees. She hadn't been expecting Daryl to go around telling everyone she'd planned to leave. She'd hoped to just slip away quietly, let them get on with their lives and find her own way. She gave him a small, but grateful smile. She was happy that she finally felt accepted into the camp.

* * *

Early the next morning, the cars were packed up and everyone was ready to go.

"Alright, everybody!" Shane said as he approached the numerous groups of people, "Listen up! Those of you with CBs, we're going to be on channel forty. But let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now, you got a problem, don't have a CB, can't get a signal, anything at all, you gotta hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

"We're, uh... We're not going."

Everyone looked up at Morales as he and his wife held their children closer. Elise felt saddened. Morales had helped look out for her when she and Rick had gone into Atlanta. The thought of him and his family being out there alone was scary. God knows what would happen to them.

"We have family in Birmingham. We wanna be with our people." His wife said quietly.

"You're on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane warned them, ensuring they'd fully thought their decision through.

"We'll take the chance." Morales replied, "I gotta do what's best for my family."

With that, Rick and Shane handed the family some weapons and ammo, and the group said their goodbyes to them. Elise shared a hug with Morales but since she barely knew the others, it didn't seem appropriate to go to them. If she was honest, she felt pretty much out of place.

"Come on! Let's go!" Shane ordered, watching people go to their cars, "Elise, since you're coming along, you ride with Daryl. Okay?"

"Sure." Elise said quietly, turning to Daryl with a weak smile on her face, "Hey, moving buddy."

"Jeez..." Daryl sighed, rolling his eyes as they headed to his truck, "You're not gonna be annoying, are you? No singing, no road games?"

"God, no." Elise answered, putting her bag in the truck and climbing inside.

* * *

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose." Dale said as the group stood around the broken down RV, "I said I needed the one from the cube van."

"Can you jerry-rig it?" Rick asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"That's all its been so far." Dale replied, shaking his head, "It's more duct-tape than hose. And I'm out of duct-tape,"

"I see something up ahead." Shane said, looking through the binoculars, "Gas station if we're lucky."

"Y'all! It's Jim... He's bad!" Jacqui said, hurrying out of the RV, "I don't think he can take any more."

"Hey, Rick you wanna hold down the fort?" Shane asked, "I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back?"

"Yeah, I'll come along too. Back you up." T-Dog offered, looking through the binoculars.

"Y'all keep your eyes open." Shane instructed, "We'll be right back."

As Rick went to the RV to talk to Jim, Elise looked around at the others, and the up at Daryl who gave her a weak smile. He went back to chewing his thumb and looking around the area, while Andrea approached a worried looking Elise. She knew what the other woman was thinking. She knew that Elise didn't think Jim would be with them much longer. She didn't know that Elise had already witnessed the process of a human dying and coming back as a walker, however. She barely knew anything about the woman in question.

"You don't think he's gonna make it." She stated, watching Elise shake her head.

"If he's had enough, he won't want to." The younger woman replied, "I can't imagine the pain he's in."

When Rick emerged from the RV, it was made clear that there had to a serious discussion when Shane got back. Elise felt dread settle in the pit of her stomach. They'd lost so many people already. People she barely knew, but still... When it came round to having the group talk, her worst fears were confirmed. Jim wanted to be left to die at the side of the road. He really had given up.

"It's what he says he wants." Rick told the group quietly.

"And he's lucid?" Carol asked.

Elise didn't know too much about Carol. She knew that her now deceased husband had beaten her for most of their life together, and that she'd dealt with him in the aftermath of the walker attack. She'd been told she was a loving mother to Sophia, and a kind, gentle woman, and Elise had seen nothing of her to suggest otherwise.

"He seems to be." Rick answered, "I would say yes."

"Back in the camp, when I said Daryl might be right and you shot me down..." Dale began to explain, "You misunderstood. I would never go along with callously killing a man. But I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer."

Noticing the emotions on the faces of those around her, and feeling the guilt bubbling up within the group, Elise decided to make a point that would probably earn some protests from the others. She very rarely had a voice, so she was going to use this opportunity as well as possible.

"Whether we can live with this or not is irrelevant." She spoke up, voice quaking with emotion as she ran a hand through her curls, "This is hard for everyone. Including me, and I barely know him. But, this is Jim's choice. I think we need to respect his wishes and do what he wants us to. It's bad enough that his life is going to end painfully without denying him is last wishes, right?"

"She's right." Lori said quietly, "This isn't anyone's call but Jim's."

So it was decided that they would leave Jim to the fate he'd requested. It had been a struggle, lifting him onto the side of the road, and the move had caused him a great amount of pain, but now he was out in the open air, it seemed to make him feel just a little better.

"Hey, Jim..." Shane said quietly, "I mean, you know it doesn't need to be this."

"No. It's good." Jim replied weakly, "The breeze feels nice."

Everyone slowly said their goodbyes. Some were more emotional than others. When it came down to Elise, who was just before Daryl, she had no idea what to say. She had no idea what to do. But she crouched beside the dying man and she took hold of his hand gently in her own.

"I'm sorry that things turned out this way, Jim." She said softly, "I'm sorry that I didn't get to know you better, because anyone can see that you're a good man, and you defended that camp the best you could. But, I'm gonna be praying for you, okay?"

"Thank you." Jim replied weakly, eyes rolling as he tried to stay awake, "Thank you."

As a tear fell down her face, Elise turned away and hurried down the hill, not wanting Jim or anyone else to see her cry. By the time Daryl and Jim had shared their small goodbye everyone else was getting ready to leave. And as her friend approached her, she saw that he'd been a little more bothered by the experience than he'd let on.

"Come on..." He said quietly, touching her shoulder gently as an attempt to comfort her before moving to his truck, "We gotta get moving, Elise."

Elise climbed into the truck beside him and continued to wipe the tears away with the back of her hand as they set off along the road, leaving Jim behind in the cool afternoon breeze. Reaching into her bag, Elise pulled out a small box and inside was a tiny white crucifix. When Daryl cast her a strange look, she gripped it tightly in her hands and looked up at him with big, blue, watery eyes.

"I promised I'd pray for him." She said quietly, taking in a shaky breath.

Daryl nodded, pausing for a moment as he turned his attention back to the road. He had no right to question anything she did to help her get over what had just happened. He could tell that she was doubting whether he'd let her do this, and it annoyed him a little that she thought she needed his permission. So, he gave her one more final glance and a soft nod of encouragement.

"Then, you go ahead and pray."

-TBC-

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! **

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	14. Haven

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Hi, everyone! I'm going to take advantage of any free time I get to do some writing for this fic. I want to get at least four or five chapters written this weekend, so I won't leave this half finished. I really hope you are all enjoying this so far and thanks for continued support with it.

**ShadowXMoonlight: **I'm glad you're still enjoying this fic. I really hope you like this chapter.

**shika93: **Thanks so much for reviewing! It really does mean a lot!

Happy reading!

xxxxxxxxxxxx

* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Fourteen: Haven**

It was dusk by the time the group reached the CDC.

Thankfully for Daryl, Elise had recovered from her upset, and had talked to him for some of the ride. While he was a very private and closed off person, Daryl had enjoyed her company. She seemed to understand him. She knew when not to push him about a certain topic and would quickly change the subject. She knew what would make him laugh and what would piss him off. They'd known each other for a mere three days and she knew him pretty well already. It made him wonder how she did it. She was a pretty cool person. Fun, friendly, caring. Genuine. Genuine people were hard to come by, especially in this world.

The group gathered outside their vehicles, looking around the area before making their way across to the building. The stench and the sight of the devastation was incredible. Bodies littered the whole site, draped over sandbags, piled on the floor, all over the grass. Elise's stomach knotted and her fingers tightened around her bow. She inched closer to Daryl, fighting the urge to grip onto him through her fear. She was terrified, wondering what could possibly head their way if they got stuck out here.

"You stay right by me." Daryl told her, "You hear?"

"Yeah, I'm right by you." Elise responded, nodding at him as she spoke.

"Come on, stay quiet..." Shane whispered as everyone started gagging on the smell, "Let's go. Come on."

Daryl put a hand on Elise's back gently and pushed her forwards, feeling her startle beneath his touch. He kept a close eye on her as she looked around them, bow and arrow at the ready. The buzzing of the swarms of flies got worse as the group approached the shuttered doors, and the entire group was terrified, especially the children.

"I think I'm gonna puke..." Elise whispered to Daryl, looking up at him fearfully, "I can't be sick. I can't..."

"Then don't be." Daryl replied, "Can't have you panicking on us now, Elise. Keep it together."

"Keep moving, guys. Stay together." Shane instructed, nodding to Daryl who edged Elise forward again, "Shhh..."

The smell and the flies got even more horrendous as they approached the doors, and everyone was struggling to keep the contents of their stomachs down. The shutters were down tight. No-one could move them. Even after banging on them and trying desperately to shift them, there was no response, and being left vulnerable and in the open caused everyone to start to panic. A moaning sound sent a shiver down Elise's spine, and her eyes closed as she realised what was coming towards them.

"Walkers!" Daryl shouted, causing Elise to spin round as she saw him fire an arrow into the head of an oncoming walker before he began yelling at Rick, "You led us into a graveyard!"

"He made a call!" Shane defended his best friend.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl roared, shooting another walker in the head.

Shane turned to Rick as the others got frightened, and he knew that they needed to get out of there. There were more walkers approaching by the second and they had to think of the safety of the group, particularly the now distraught children.

"This is a dead end." He told his friend, tugging on his arm.

"Where are we gonna go?" Carol cried, clutching her daughter to her chest.

"What do we do...?" Elise whispered to Daryl, feeling hot tears slip down her face, "What do we do?"

"Get outta here." Daryl told her, hearing her sniffle softly beside him, "Dry your eyes, take a deep breath. We gotta clear these sons of bitches out, and I can't do it on my own, okay?"

All Daryl was doing was saying what he thought would calm her down. He didn't even think about the words he was using, it was just coming out naturally. He wasn't good at comforting and soothing people, but for some reason his attempt with Elise had worked. He heard her take a shuddering breath and out of the corner of his eye he could see her wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, returning to her bow and arrow.

"We can't be this close to the city after dark!" Lori breathed, obviously frightened.

"Fort Benning, Rick." Shane said, getting more frightened, "It's still an option."

"On what?!" Elise asked, "No food, no fuel?! It's a hundred miles, for God's sake!"

"A hundred and twenty five on the map." Glenn said, "I checked."

"Forget Fort Benning!" Lori cried, "We need answers, tonight! Now!"

As Shane started moving people back, Elise went to grab Rick, but both of them stopped in their tracks as the camera above the door moved. They didn't imagine that. They looked at each other and new damn well they hadn't imagined it. There was someone there, watching them. Someone could see them out there.

"The camera moved!" Elise breathed, "It moved!"

"You imagined it..." Dale said worriedly.

"No, it moved." Rick replied, "I saw it too."

"Hey! I know you're in there!" Elise shouted at the camera as Daryl moved to pull her away, "I know you can see us and you can hear us!"

She kicked against Daryl, pushing him away from her to run back to the doors. He was hot on her heels, though, and wrapping his arms tightly around her waist, he hauled her backwards with all the strength he had. She kicked and fought, and she was easily strong enough to make Daryl struggle with her.

"Please, we're desperate!" Rick said to the camera, "We have women and children. No food, no fuel. We have nowhere else to go!"

"You're killing us!" Elise screamed, breaking into more tears as she saw walkers approaching, "You're killing us! Please!"

As Daryl finally got her away from the door, she heard the sound of it opening, and to her amazement the shutter was going up. It didn't take long for everyone to head inside, but they were armed and ready to shoot.

"Hello?" Rick called out, hearing a gun being locked which caused everyone to turn around.

They were met with a man in a grey t-shirt and black pants holding a gun, warily eyeing each of them. He looked like he'd been here a long time. He looked tired and withdrawn.

"Anybody infected?" He asked.

"One of our group was. He didn't make it." Rick told him.

"Why are you here? What do you want?"

The questions were fast and harsh, and everyone feared that the man would throw them out. Daryl noticed Elise beside him, still crying, still barely able to breathe as she looked in the opposite direction. This damn woman. He didn't get it. She made him do things and feel things he'd never done or felt before. She made him feel wanted and appreciated for once, and as though he was needed. And seeing this strong, brave woman, who'd gone back into absolute hell just to find his brother, looking so frightened and so upset just didn't sit right with him.

"A chance." Rick answered, keeping his gun trained on the man in front of him.

"That's asking an awful lot these days." The man replied, "You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission."

"We can do that." Rick said, looking around at the group behind him.

"Daryl, I don't do needles." Elise whispered, "I hate needles."

"You'll be fine. It's gonna be fine." Daryl whispered harshly, eyes trained on the doors, "What's one little needle if it means you're gonna finally be safe, huh?"

"You got stuff to bring in, do it now." The man said calmly, "Once this door closes, it stays closed."

Daryl looked to Elise and carefully pushed her towards Dale, his eyes never leaving hers. Dale noticed the exchange between them and how Elise remained calm while Daryl kept his eyes on hers. It was strange. Dale had never seen Daryl behaving like this with anyone. He wasn't the hothead Dale had come to know at this moment. He was calm and assertive, enough so to make Elise relax.

"I'll get your bag... You just stay here with Dale." He said quietly, earning a nod from the older man who pulled Elise carefully towards him, "I'll be right back."

Once Glenn, Daryl, Shane and Rick had got the bags inside, the man didn't waste any time in closing the doors. Elise was in shock. The usual brave, charismatic, feisty young woman wasn't herself, and it made those who'd noticed this anxious.

"Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here." The man said, introducing himself as Dr. Edwin Jenner when Rick went to shake his hand.

Soon, the group were in an elevator, all exhausted, slightly zoned out and tired. Elise was still dewy-eyed, but her tears had finally stopped. She stayed by Daryl who Dale noticed was keeping a close eye on her, while eyeing the doctor warily.

"Do doctors always go around packing heat like that?" He asked, tightening the hold on the gun in his hand.

"There were plenty left lying around." Jenner answered, "I familiarised myself. But you look harmless enough."

He looked down at Carl, who gazed up at him curiously.

"Except you." He told the young boy, causing a small smile to break out onto the child's face, "I'll have to keep my eye on you."

When the elevator came to a stop and the door opened, the group stepped out, following Jenner down the white breeze-block corridor. It became quite clear that they were no longer on the surface, and that meant they were nowhere near the threat on the outside. It was a great relief.

"Are we underground?" Carol asked quietly.

"You claustrophobic?" Jenner asked her in response.

"A little." Carol answered, giving Elise a weak smiled as she put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Try not to think about it." Jenner told her, leading the group to a dark doorway, "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room."

Suddenly the room lit up, revealing several pristine white computer stations. Everyone looked around in amazement. They'd never seen anything like it. Elise looked over her shoulder to see Daryl catching up and she gave him a weak smile, trying to hide her relief that they were safe and away from danger for the first time in days. She was beyond grateful to him. He'd been there when she'd needed him to be and he hadn't even thought twice about it. He'd kept her grounded when otherwise she would've panicked and lost control. He'd kept her safe.

"Welcome to Zone Five." Jenner told them as he headed into the room.

"Where is everybody?" Rick asked, "The other doctors? The staff?"

"I'm it." Jenner replied, looking around at the group's faces, "It's just me here."

So many different people, all thrown together in the same mess. They all looked worn out and desperate, just like they'd had enough.

"What about the person you were speaking with?"

Jenner looked through the group to see where the voice came from. He watched as a young auburn haired woman stepped forward and he acknowledged her with a simple nod of his head. She was the one who looked the most frightened when he first saw the group. Daryl kept his eyes on Elise as she moved through the group to face the doctor. She wasn't in great shape. Her head was still pretty messed up from the walker invasion at the quarry, and no matter what she said, he knew she still blamed herself for what had happened there, so he wanted to keep an eye on her. He wanted to make sure she was alright. They didn't need her going nuts on them at this point.

"Vi?" She asked, stepping a little closer.

"Vi, say hello to our guests." Jenner responded, "Tell them welcome."

"Hello, guests. Welcome."

Vi was a computer. Jenner's eyes watched Elise's reaction. He realised her hope was broken. Just like his. Her smile faded. Her eyes darkened. Her head lowered.

"I'm all that's left." He said, earning a soft and tearful nod from her.

He watched her turn and walk back to the man with the rifle and the ripped plaid shirt. He saw the way she looked up at her friend and the way he looked back at her. Yeah, this girl had no hope left.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

Elise walked over to have her blood test done with her eyes cast to the floor. If she saw the needle she wouldn't be able to go through with it. She felt sick enough but seeing the needle would make it a million times worse.

"You scared of needles?" Jenner asked her as he took in her inability to look at him.

"Very." She answered, covering her eyes with her spare hand as she held her arm out to him, "Just keep talking to me and I'll be fine."

The group had started to talk between themselves, so she and Jenner could just talk quietly. Elise had asked them to not watch her go for her test. It made her more nervous when people stared at her.

"So... The man with the crossbow..." Jenner began, "He your boyfriend?"

"No, no." Elise smiled, gasping as the needle pierced her skin, "He's just a friend."

"I see." Jenner replied, nodding slowly, "Almost done."

"Good." The young woman breathed, smiling as he removed the needle, "Thanks."

When he'd done, Jenner stood carefully and helped Elise to her feet, announcing to the group that they would finally get to eat again. And soon, they were sitting, eating and drinking wine, a full bottle of which Daryl had taken for himself. The cafeteria was huge, and there was more than enough food to last them a while. It was beyond luxury.

"You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner." Dale said as he poured a glass of red wine for Lori, "And in France."

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori said, taking a sip of her drink.

"What's it gonna hurt? Come" Rick asked, getting no response from his wife, "Come on."

Everyone laughed as Carl tried some of the wine, his expression telling them that he hated it instantly. Lori poured the small amount into her own glass as the laughing subsided, and the group looked around at one another. Glenn was already drunk and Elise was part of the way there. Daryl saw that she wasn't laughing, though. It bothered him that she was sitting away from the group, too.

"Hey, Elise!" He called, "Come on over here."

"Yeah, Elise, you're missing all the fun!" Carl agreed, watching her slowly walk over to them, eyes dull and tired.

It wasn't long before the fun died down. Talk of suicides and what happened to people in the CDC was enough to kill the buzz of the party, thanks to Shane, who Elise noticed was a depressed kind of drunk. After the morbid conversation, the group were then led to another part of the building where they could sleep. The news of hot water was enough to make everyone more than happy. By the time everyone had chosen their rooms, the only people left standing in the hallway were Daryl and Elise.

"You wanna bunk in with me?" She asked, noticing uncertainty crossing his features at her request, "It could be fun... We can drink all night... Share stories..."

Daryl looked at her for a long moment, which made her wonder if she'd made a big mistake in asking him. Daryl didn't seem like the type of guy who was used to those kinds of things. But, just as she was about to protest and tell him it didn't matter, he nodded at her silently, making his way into the room with her. They put their bags down, and Elise decided to get out her night clothes and toiletries while Daryl took his shower.

It was hard for the young woman not to blush when she caught a glimpse of his half naked body, and even though it was cast in shadow, she still felt shivers run up her spine when a muscular arm reached out to grab the clothes that were sat just outside the door. When Elise went to have her shower, Daryl mentioned something about going to get another bottle of wine, and soon she was left alone to get cleaned up in peace.

Removing her clothes, the young woman carefully stepped into the shower stall, turning on the water slowly. Feeling the spray rushing over her, Elise sighed deeply as she washed the dirt and grime from her body slowly. She savoured the pounding of the shower against her skin, but as the realisation hit her that they were finally safe, one long, lone sob to escape her full lips.

She pressed her forehead to the shower wall and took a deep breath, bracing herself against it with all the strength she had. So much rushed through her mind. Jim. The attack on the camp. Amy. Merle. Thoughts of Morgan and Duane. Her life before all of this, and last of all Daryl. She couldn't stop her knees from buckling, so slowly, she slid down onto them, feeling the pain of her knees making contact with the tiles beneath her. She cried. She cried long and hard. This was group's new haven. They were finally safe.

The knock on the door caused her to startle, and her crying stopped pretty much immediately. Daryl didn't need to hear her cry. He'd lost his brother. He'd been with the group longer than her. He knew the people who had died. He even knew Jim better than her. She had no business crying in front of him.

"Everything alright in there?" Daryl asked, knocking on the door again, "Elise?"

"I'm fine." She lied wiping her eyes and quickly washing the tears from her face.

"Just heard you crying. That don't sound like you're fine to me..." Daryl said, hearing the shower stop and the rustling of fabric as soft footsteps approached the door.

Elise's feet made a quiet slapping sound as she moved along the floor, and she opened the door carefully, wrapped in nothing but a towel, her long curls hanging over one shoulder. Daryl's breath almost caught in his throat as she gave him a big smile, no sign of crying on her face.

"See, I'm alright." She said softly, turning her face away and wiping her eyes as tears filled them again at the concern on his face.

"Why don't you get yourself dressed... I've got us some wine." He said softly, giving her a small smile as she closed the door again.

He made up the cots on the floor, with very little space between them and sat on his, waiting for her to come out of the shower. He wondered what they'd talk about. His first job was finding out what had caused her to get upset, because he didn't believe her when she said she hadn't been crying.

He then wondered what on earth he was getting himself into.

-TBC-

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! **

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	15. Late Night Drink

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Hi, everyone! This is a chapter fully of my own content with no scripted lines from the show. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for the continued support. Reviews feed my muse and they mean a lot so please, please, please review!

**ShadowXMoonlight: **Daryl is always sexy ;) Thanks for your constant support, and I'm glad you're enjoying the fic!

**shika93: **Thanks for your review! It means a lot!

Happy reading!

xxxxxxxxxxxx

* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Fifteen: Late Night Drink**

As Elise stepped out of the bathroom she was met with the sight of Daryl chewing his thumb.

She could tell that the atmosphere was uncomfortable for him, but regardless, she smiled softly at him, moving across the room to put her clothes in her backpack. It was strange... Awkward... Starting the conversation wasn't going to be easy. Turning slowly, she watched him pour out a glass of wine and he held it out to her, beckoning her to join him with a nod of his head. At least he'd initiated their interaction first.

"Thank you." She said quietly, sucking in a slow breath and sitting on the cot, tucking her bare legs under the blanket.

Daryl blushed a little when he caught himself studying her long, smooth legs, which were obviously very toned and strong. His eyes wandered further up to her ample breasts that were hidden only by a small white tank top and white bra. He looked away, clearly embarrassed, and tried to keep his focus on her eyes and face.

"The thank-you isn't just for the wine." Elise almost whispered, her smile fading as she looked up at the man beside her, "You took care of me today... And yesterday. You looked out for me and you helped me keep a level head. So, thank you... Again."

"Ain't gotta thank me." Daryl mumbled, looking down at the wine bottle, "Its only what anyone else would've done."

"No, it isn't." Elise told him, shaking her head, "You know it isn't. If you're trying to pay me back for helping you go look for Merle, then don't. You aren't in any kind of debt to me over that."

"I know that." Daryl answered, "I wasn't thinking like that. I wanted to watch your back, you know? You're the only person who even bothers with me around here."

"Don't talk like that." The young woman whispered.

"Why do you do it?" He asked, "Why do you feel you have to hang around me? I'm nobody to you."

"Losing your brother is on me." Elise told him, "On this group. You're not a bad guy, Daryl. These people have judged you harshly, and that's not fair. I don't feel I have to hang around you. I want to. I decided before I met you that I was going back to Atlanta for Merle."

"Why'd you stick up for me?" He asked her, "When Shane had a hold of me? I don't need no-one watching my back."

"The kind of news he'd given you should've been delivered in private." She said angrily, taking a sip of her wine, "I hated it that he felt it okay to turn your world upside down in view of so many others. The least I could do was give you some dignity. I don't think you need anyone to watch your back, Daryl. You're a strong and capable guy."

"Why'd you risk your neck for a guy who hurt your face so bad?" The man asked again, trying to understand why she'd want anything to do with him, "I know it looks better but I bet it don't feel better."

"Hurts like a bitch. But no-one deserves to be left the way Merle was, whether he hit me or not." Elise said, turning to Daryl and smiling brightly, "So much for you not being much of a talker."

"Must be the wine." Daryl muttered, hearing the woman next to him giggle, "What?"

She just shook her head, auburn curls bouncing as they hit her shoulders. Daryl studied her for a minute, taking a drink of wine from the bottle. She was attractive. There was no denying that. Daryl, in his half drunken haze, would go as far as to think she was beautiful. She was dainty and delicate looking, but she was a powerful woman. She was a brave woman, and a scary one at times.

"I'm sorry Merle took off." Elise said quietly as her soft giggles subsided, "Must be tough."

"Merle wasn't around all that much when I was kid." Daryl replied, his voice quiet and raspy, "I'm used to not having him around."

Knowing not to push him, Elise simply nodded, finishing her glass of wine and then holding it out to Daryl for a refill. He obliged, filling her glass almost to the rim and then taking a swig from the bottle. The pair sat in silence for a few moments before Daryl let out a soft huff.

"Damn, woman." He said quietly, "No more talking. You're making me talk about my feelings and shit."

"Thought that was the wine." Elise replied, nudging him softly, "Let's talk about something else. Why don't you ask me some more questions? Save you from talking about that 'shit'."

"I'm not good at this talking thing." Daryl answered, earning another nudge from Elise.

"You're doing pretty good so far." She told him, "Look, if you don't wanna talk, I could have a look around for some playing cards or something...?"

"Nah..." Daryl mumbled, taking another swig of wine, "How come your not hanging out with the others?"

"Daryl, I wanna spend time with you. You're the only one here apart from Rick who's come close to being a friend." Elise said quietly, "I'd like you to consider me as a friend, you know?"

"I can do that." Daryl replied just as softly, giving Elise the closest thing to a smile he could manage.

He wasn't a smiley, happy person. He'd had a pretty shit deal in life in some ways, and it had made him a cold, hardened, angry person. He'd had friends before, but they were really just people he'd worked with or had a drink with. Friendship like the kind Elise was showing him was something he was unfamiliar with, but he liked it that she wanted to spend time with him. He liked the fact that she would save her most gorgeous smile for him. Everyone else would get a small smile, but Daryl got that big, wide, warm grin that was only reserved for him.

"I'm glad." Elise answered, sipping her wine carefully.

"So, you gonna tell me why you were crying in the shower?" Daryl asked, "And don't lie to me. I heard you."

"Just overwhelmed with everything, I guess." Elise answered, smiling weakly, "I went through a lot before the world went to hell, and now I'm safe for the first time in years..."

Daryl nodded in understanding and waited for her to continue, drinking from the bottle of wine again. Feeling safe was overwhelming after being in danger for so long. Daryl had just been grateful for the food, the alcohol and the shower.

"What were you gonna do if you'd gone on your own?" He asked her, "I know you can look after yourself, but..."

"I was gonna go cross-country. Maybe look for friends..." Elise said with a nonchalant shrug, "I had no real plan, I just wanted to get out of the way, I guess."

"You guess a lot." Daryl told her, earning a sweet laugh from her, "You were really gonna go out there with no real plan? You could've been killed."

"I know." She whispered, "That's why I'm kinda glad you stopped me from leaving. I was just upset and being stupid."

"Nah." Daryl said as she sipped more of her wine, "You weren't being stupid. Leaving was a stupid idea but you had good reason to wanna go... I saw the way people were looking at you."

"What Shane told me was total crap. I know our people blame me." Elise said, downing the rest of her glass, "I led everyone to go and get Merle. I took people away from camp. The blood of those who died is on my hands."

"None of the people who came long were forced." Daryl told her sternly, "You told 'em repeatedly not to go. There ain't no blood on your hands... Or anyone else's. No-one could've known that attack was coming."

Elise nodded silently, still not looking convinced. Daryl didn't really know what to say to her. He knew she felt beyond guilty but it really wasn't her fault. The guys back at camp just hadn't been fully aware of their surroundings. Someone should've been keeping watch.

"I'm gonna get another bottle of wine." He said, clearing his throat, "Might see if there are some snacks lying around."

"How about I go look for those cards?" Elise suggested, rubbing her hands on her shorts uncomfortably.

She felt terrible. Obviously, talking about her feelings and 'shit' had made Daryl uncomfortable and he was removing himself from the situation. She bowed her head and bit her lip, standing from the cot and wringing her hands. Daryl watched her carefully, unable to stop himself eyeing up her legs and her backside as she approached the door to the room.

"If you can't find a deck of cards, look for a board game or something." He told her, sensing her sadness, "I've had enough drink to be able to just bear Monopoly."

Elise turned back to him with bright eyes and that amazing smile, nodding to him quickly before heading out of the room. He watched her close the door and let out a breath he didn't even realise he'd been holding. He felt something flutter in his stomach and suddenly he was incredibly hot all over. He hadn't felt like that for a long, long time, and it only meant one thing. Scrubbing a hand over his face, Daryl let out a long sigh and stood up to go and get another bottle of wine, thinking about everything he was suddenly feeling.

"Shit..."

* * *

Two bottles of wine and four bags of potato chips later, Elise was holding her cards close to her chest, letting out a drunken snort as she pulled her bra strap back onto her shoulder. Daryl was almost drunk himself, and in his drink-induced state, he found Elise all the more beautiful, especially as she let out drunken giggles and smiled widely at him.

"Go on, woman." He slurred, "Keeping me waiting like this... It just ain't fair!"

"Impatient." Elise huffed, "I'm almost there."

"You been almost there for twenty-minutes." Daryl told her, watching her eyes flutter slightly as she looked at her cards, "It's only Rummy."

"I don't care!" Elise replied, swaying slightly where she sat, "I wanna make the right choice!"

Daryl grunted, and as Elise picked up a new card, she looked at it for a few moments before throwing all of her cards down and then kicking the deck over. She gave a triumphant laugh, throwing her head back and raising her arms in the air. Daryl chuckled. Drunk Elise was a lot more fun than sober Elise. To be fair, sober Elise wasn't so bad, but drunk Elise was a blast.

"I don't wanna play any more!" She exclaimed, losing her balance and falling backwards off of the cot which led to a loud laugh from Daryl, before reaching up to him with concern on her face, "Whoa... Are you alright?"

"Boy, you really are drunk." The hunter said, shaking his head, "C'mere... You'd best get some rest."

"No!" Elise cried, pouting and frowning at him as he pulled her upward and sat her on her cot again, "But, Daryl...!"

"You're gonna have one hell of a hangover, woman..." He chuckled.

"Don't leave me..." Elise whispered, "What did I do?"

"Nothing, darlin'." Daryl told her, shaking his head at his use of a term of endearment, "I ain't leaving. I'm gonna go to sleep too. I'm done for tonight."

"Okay..." Elise said quietly, nodding slowly, "Night night, Daryl."

"Night." Daryl replied, letting out a soft huff as Elise fell onto the cot, already fast asleep.

Carefully, Daryl lifted Elise's legs and pulled her blanket out from beneath them, trying not to spend too much time with his hands on the soft, smooth limbs. He then draped the blanket over her before climbing into his own bed, turning onto his side to watch her sleep. She was so pretty when she was asleep, and seemed as though she was really, truly at peace. It was a rare thing in this new world. Having feelings for someone was a rare thing in Daryl's world at all, and since his realisation, he'd needed to drink as much alcohol as possible to try and push down the horrifying thoughts that accompanied his feelings for Elise.

What would she want with a guy like him anyway? It wasn't as if he was in her league. No, she would've dated those really handsome guys who broke hearts wherever they went. Getting into a relationship in the middle of an apocalypse was far from a good idea anyway, and Elise would never want a dumbass redneck like him, so forgetting his feelings was the best course of action. But as Daryl turned over to go to sleep, he knew that forgetting how he felt was going to be a lot harder to do than he thought.

He knew he was in deep, deep trouble.

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	16. TS-19

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N:** Okay, so chapter 17 is in progress and will be ready for publishing tomorrow. To everyone who has read, favourited, followed and reviewed this story, thank you so much!

**ShadowXMoonlight: **Thanks again for reviewing! You haven't had to wait long ;)

**shika93: **Thanks for your constant support!

Happy reading!

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* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Sixteen: TS-19**

When Daryl awoke the following morning, he fully expected to hear Elise's groans of pain and nausea from her hangover.

But, to his surprise, as he sat up on the cot and looked around for her, she looked as fresh as a daisy. He watched her slipping on a blue and purple plaid shirt on top of a white vest, and then tie up her hair as she hummed to herself quietly. She stood up, stretched and turned towards him, immediately flushing with embarrassment due to him hearing her humming. She felt guilty for disturbing him, as well as stupid.

"Oh, sorry..." She said quietly, "Hope I didn't wake you."

"Nah..." Daryl muttered, standing up from his cot, "You ain't hungover?"

"Nope." Elise chuckled, "I've got an amazing alcohol tolerance level."

Daryl simply nodded and went to get some clothes to have a shower, but as he passed Elise, their shoulders brushed and the pair stopped for a second to look at each other. It felt like forever but for some reason, neither person could take their eyes from the other. After several moments of silence, Elise cleared her throat and ducked her head, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her mind was raging with thoughts of him, and of how he held her when she fell the night before in her stupid drunken state. She knew she had feelings for him. She'd known since she'd first set eyes on him. She hated that kind of attraction where she'd see someone and that was it. She knew very little about Daryl, but he invaded almost every single waking thought and frankly it was scaring her to death.

"I'll go and get some breakfast." She whispered, trying to hide the blush of embarrassment from their staring session, "I'll see you soon."

"Yeah..." Daryl mumbled, watching her leave quietly, before growling as she closed the door, "Damn woman."

Elise trudged down the corridor slowly towards the cafeteria, and as she entered she found Lori, Carl, Dale, Andrea, Glenn, Carol, Sophia, T-Dog and Jacqui already up. Andrea gave her a sly smile and a wink as she sat beside her, which only earned a confused look from Elise. She noticed everyone apart from Carl, Sophia and Glenn looking at her that way.

"What?" She asked, "Is there something on my face?"

"No, no..." Andrea replied, "So, what was it like bunking in with Daryl?"

Immediately, Elise's body grew tense. She knew what Andrea was suggesting. Now, she realised why everyone was looking at her as they were. Narrowing her eyes, she studied the others as T-Dog put some eggs on the plate in front of her.

"Have I missed something?" She asked, feeling embarrassment beginning to burn its way onto her face.

"No, nothing." Lori answered, glaring at Andrea when she saw Elise's flushed cheeks.

As Rick approached the table, Elise looked over at a very hungover Glenn, who moaned in pain. She reached out and rubbed his back sympathetically, giving him a warm smile. She knew how he was feeling and she truly did sympathise. Alcohol was a true demon.

"Morning." Rick said quietly as he sat at the table.

"Are you hungover?" Carl asked him suddenly, "Mom said you'd be."

"Mom's right." Rick replied, giving Elise a gentle smile of greeting, "How are you, Elise?"

"Me? I'm fine." Elise chuckled, "No hangover. Unlike poor Glenn here..."

"Protein helps the hangover." T-Dog said as he gave Glenn a plateful of eggs.

Elise looked around the table, smiling at the thought of a pleasant breakfast with the group. They new very little about one another but here they were, surviving through this thing together like a family. Turning at a small shuffling sound, Elise found herself being approached by Sophia, who looked bashfully back at her mother for reassurance. Elise wondered why Sophia was so nervous, but she was a quiet child. Carol nodded at her encouragingly and Sophia turned back to the younger woman. Elise simply smiled at the child who cleared her throat and looked rather scared to talk to her.

"May I please sit by you?" She asked, "I asked Mama, and she said that I should ask you."

"Of course, sweetie." Elise said softly, taking a drink of the glass of juice Dale set in front of her, "You sleep okay last night?"

"I did." Sophia replied sweetly, biting her lip and looking up at Elise shyly, "Why did you want to share a room with Daryl?"

"Is that why you wanted to sit by me?" Elise asked, winking at Sophia who giggled and hid her face in her hands because she'd been found out.

Elise hadn't spoken to the children much, but for some reason they liked her, and they'd asked her a lot of questions about her bow and arrow and if she'd help teach them. The only time they really talked properly was out near the RV when its hose decided to die on them.

"Well, he's my friend." Elise answered as T-Dog served Sophia some eggs, "Sometimes friends have sleepovers and slumber parties, right?"

"Yeah." Sophia said, beginning to tuck into her breakfast.

"Well, Daryl and I had a slumber party."

"Does he snore?" Sophia asked innocently, just as Daryl entered the room.

Elise watched the child shrink back in her seat as his eyes met hers and she saw Daryl's expression soften almost straight away. She knew he'd never meant to frighten the kid, but Sophia was a very timid child. Not surprising with a father like the one she'd had. Ed was a monster, and not a soul in that group missed him. Especially not Carol. Daryl looked to Elise, who gave him a reassuring smile. She had no idea what he was like with kids, so a little guidance wouldn't harm him.

"No, Daryl doesn't snore."

"Elise does, though." Daryl told Sophia, voice still gruff but his eyes warm, "Real loud. Kinda like a grizzly bear."

The child started to laugh, and Carol gave the pair a grateful smile, noticing the grin shared between them. Shane entered the room next with some suspicious red marks on his neck. Elise saw Lori stiffen as he entered the room, and it made her concerned. Had Lori caused those marks? Had Shane tried to hurt her? The way Shane was looking at Lori made Elise wonder what the hell had happened between them. Her thoughts were interrupted by the group greeting Jenner good morning and she gave the doctor her own weak smile.

"Doc, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing..." Dale said as Jenner got a drink.

"But you will anyway." Jenner answered with a slight smile.

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea told him, watching as he turned to face them.

The group was silent for a few moments and Jenner set his eyes on Elise, who bowed her head and looked to her plate. He wondered if she'd be easier to convince. She looked like she had nothing left to live for. No hope. He was just the same.

* * *

After their breakfast, Jenner led the group to the big room and turned on one of the computers. Everyone looked at one another, not really knowing what to expect. Elise couldn't shake the dread that lingered in the pit of her stomach, or the anxiousness that was taking over her body. Daryl, almost sensing her nervousness, eased her forward gently, his hand on her back.

"Give me a playback of TS-19." Jenner instructed, tapping a few keys on the computer's keyboard.

"Playback of TS-19." Vi's robotic voice came flooding into the room, startling Elise who winced at the volume of it.

"Few people ever got a chance to see this." Jenner told the group, "Very few."

The image in front of them scanned through to a brain, and data flooded onto the left side of the screen as the image began to play. Elise crossed her arms over her chest and shivered, unconsciously moving closer to Daryl.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asked as he looked up at the image.

"An extraordinary one." Jenner replied, looking back at the screen, "Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for EIV."

Daryl moved forward, beckoning a worried Elise to join him. He didn't understand the point of this and he didn't want Elise to be worrying about anything else. What she'd said last night had worried him; when she'd said she'd been through a lot before all this. He had no idea what she might have gone through before hand, but Elise wasn't the type of woman to bitch and moan about nothing. She didn't need any more worries on top of those she already had. He wanted answers, even if they were only enough to put her mind at rest. He then wondered when he'd begun to care so much.

"Enhanced Internal View." Vi spoke again, sending shivers down Elise's spine.

She watched as the screen moved to a different angle, and little lights began to move through the brain on screen. Her jaw slackened in awe as the image moved right into the brain, showing millions of dazzling little lights. Daryl heard her gasp beside him, and watched as she stepped forward, eyes wide and mouth agape. She had a feeling that these were electrical impulses. It really was incredible to see.

"Those lights..." She began, gazing over at Jenner, "Are they what I think they are?"

"It's a person's life. Experiences, memories. It's everything." Jenner replied, watching the young woman's eyes fill with tears, "It's amazing isn't it."

Elise nodded, covering her mouth with her hand. It was beautiful. She'd never seen anything like it in her life. Looking back at Daryl, she saw him looking at her with concern, so she made her way to stand by him again, looking back up at the screen.

"Somewhere in all that organic writing, all those ripples of light is you." Jenner explained, looking across at Elise again, "The thing that makes you unique and human."

Daryl didn't like how the man was looking at Elise. He didn't like it one bit. It made him feel wary about what exactly was going through Jenner's brain. Cautiously, he put a hand on Elise's lower back, feeling her startle beneath his touch. He carefully drew her a tad closer and glared at Jenner who turned away from the pair.

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl asked him, causing the doctor to look back at him.

"Those are synapses. Electrical impulses in the brain that carry all the messages." Jenner explained, "They determine everything a person says, does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death."

"Death?" Rick asked, stepping forward.

"Is this a vigil?" Elise breathed, a tear slipping from her eyes.

"Yes." Jenner answered quietly, looking across at the young woman, "Or rather, the playback of a vigil."

"This person died?" Andrea asked, eyes tearful like Elise's, "Who?"

"Test Subject 19." Jenner told her, "Someone who was bitten and infected. And volunteered to have us... record the process."

The pain on Jenner's face was enough of an indicator to Elise that this person was someone Jenner was close to. Maybe a close friend or colleague. Someone who Jenner cared deeply about. Elise pressed closer to Daryl out of instinct as she thought of the poor person who had to suffer this.

"Vi, scan forward to the first event." Jenner instructed.  
"Scanning to first event." Vi answered, and the screen changed again to show darkness invading the brain of Test Subject 19.

"What is that?" Glenn asked, amazed by what he was seeing.

"It invades the brain like meningitis." Jenner told them, "The adrenal glands haemorrhage and the brain goes into shutdown... Then the major organs."

"That's what happened to Duane's mom..." Elise said aloud without thinking.

"Duane?" Jenner asked her, "Who is Duane, Elise?"

"Duane was the son of the man who took me in when this got out of hand..." The young woman answered, eyes closing as tears fell from them quickly, "His mom... She got bit. I've never felt a fever like it... In the end it killed her. Then she woke back up and no-one had it in them to put her down."

Jenner nodded in understanding and turned back to the screen as the body died. He watched as Elise pressed herself into the body of the man beside her, and he noticed how Daryl went rigid at the contact. He wasn't one for touchy-feely, obviously. But stiffly, Daryl reached around and put a hand on her shoulder and patted it a little awkwardly as she buried her head in her hands.

"Then death..." Jenner said as the others watched the body die, "Everything you ever were or ever will be... Gone."

He watched as Andrea moved over to Elise and took her away from Daryl's side to hug her. Both of them knew the pain of this process. More so than the others. Elise clung to Andrea and sobbed almost silently as she remembered Duane's mother... Morgan's wife.

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked, her voice small.

"Yes." Carol answered, putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

Daryl looked over at the women who were crying and wanted to snatch Elise right back out of Andrea's arms. He just crossed his arms over his chest, looking back at Jenner, who was watching the upset women as they embraced. God only knew what sort of stuff Elise had gone through before she'd met their group.

"She lost somebody two days ago..." Lori explained, indicating Andrea, who was then approached by Jenner, "Her sister."

"I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is." He said softly, turning back to the screen, "Scan to the second event."

"Scanning to second event." Vi responded, stoic and robotic.

"The resurrection times vary wildly." Jenner told the group, "We have reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours."

"Duane's mom came back after about two hours..." Elise said quietly, as Andrea released her from the embrace.

"In the case of this patient it was two hours, one minute and seven seconds." Jenner said, watching her approach the redneck again who looked at her watery eyes with concern.

As they turned to the screen again, they saw red light beginning to emerge from the darkness within the brain. Elise knew this was the virus taking effect and bringing the body back. She wiped her eyes hard as she took deep breaths and hiccuped through the end of her upset.

"You alright?" Daryl asked her, watching her shake her head as he gently moved in front of her, "If you don't want to watch anymore, don't look."

"No, it's okay." Elise replied, going back to watch what was happening, "I need to see this."

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked, arms folded across her chest.

"No, just the brain stem." Jenner responded, "Basically it gets them up and moving."

"But they're not alive." Elise said with a nod, "That's what I think about every time I take one down. It isn't _alive _like a human is alive. It's just a walking corpse."

"It's a shell... Guided by mindless instinct." Jenner said with a nod.

Elise gasped as suddenly a bright light went straight through the brain and split the head clean through. She figured that the person had been shot. Her hands flew to her mouth and she took a deep breath, bowing her head and closing her eyes .

"God, what was that?" Carol asked, eyes wide.

"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea told her, staring at the screen, "Didn't you?"

She turned to where Jenner was and stared at him with cold eyes. The doctor didn't quite know what to do, so he simply commanded Vi to power down the big screen. He didn't know how to answer her.

"You don't know what it is, do you?" Andrea accused, folding her arms and stepping forward to confront the doctor.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal." Jenner answered.

"Or the wrath of God." Jacqui said, noticing Elise nod in response to that.

"There is that." Jenner agreed, rather grimly.

"Somebody must know something." Andrea began, "Somebody somewhere."

"There are others, right?" Carol asked as she held her daughter, "Other facilities?"

"There may be some." Jenner replied, turning to look at her, "People like me..."

"You don't know?!" Rick asked, "How can you not know?"

"Everything went down." Jenner replied, "Communications, directives. All of it. I've been in the dark for over a month."

Elise let out a heavy breath at the realisation of what Jenner was saying. She stepped forward to join Andrea, a little too quickly for Daryl's liking, and she stood in front of him, eyes wide, tearful and panicky.

"So it's not just here? There's nothing left anywhere?" She asked, breathing heavily as a tear fell down her face, "Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?"

When Jenner couldn't answer, Elise let out a sob and fell to her knees, hands over her face. Andrea knelt by her side and picked her up off the floor, taking her over to Daryl who was mumbling about getting drunk again. The hope of the whole group was fading. Elise's was already gone. They could all see that. Daryl didn't really know what to do. He could only look at the young woman as she cried into her hands, body shaking violently with each sob.

"Dr Jenner, I know this has been taxing and I hate to ask one more question." Dale began stepping forward, "But... That clock. It's counting down. What happens at zero?"

"The basement generators." Jenner answered, "They run out of fuel."

"And then?" Rick asked, looking over to see if Elise was okay, only to see her sobbing into her hands with Daryl's hand on her back, as though he was trying to comfort her.

When Jenner didn't answer, Rick decided to ask the computer what would happen. It wouldn't have the option of not responding and at least they'd have some kind of answer. The answer they got, however, sent chills and fear into the hearts of every person in that room.

"When power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."

-TBC-

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	17. A Hopeless Place

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N:** Hey! Thanks for all the support so far! The story will take a slightly new direction at this point. I really hope you enjoy the chapter. This part of the final episode of season one always gets to me. (Yes, I've seen it several times), so I did cry while writing this. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading, reviewing, favouriting and following so far!

**shika93: **Again, thank you! I know I always thank you but your support means a lot to me.

**ShadowXMoonlight: **Thankfully, you haven't got to wait anymore to find out what happens next. I hope you enjoy it!

**MonkeysGoBoo: **A new reviewer! Yay! Thank you for reading and reviewing! You haven't had to wait a long time for an update.

Happy reading!

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* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Seventeen: A Hopeless Place**

Back and forth. Back and forth.

Daryl couldn't stand to watch Elise move past him again. She'd been pacing for twenty minutes non stop, but thankfully her crying had ceased, yet she hadn't spoken since they'd been in that room. He shook his head in utter irritation before he stood up, marching over to her and grabbing her by the wrists. He grabbed her harsher than intended, but he didn't have time to apologise. He turned her round and walked her towards their beds.

"Sit down." He said angrily, "For the love of God, woman, sit down."

He sat her on the cot and then crouched down in front of her, glaring into her wide and now frightened eyes. He hadn't meant to scare her, he'd just wanted her to calm down. She'd really not been herself since the attack on camp and it was freaking him out that she wasn't the woman he'd met three days ago.

"Elise, you gotta stop." He told her, "Just stop."

"I'm sorry." Elise whispered, eyes wider as she gripped onto Daryl's shirt, "I'm so sorry. I don't know what's going on with me..."

"Nah, it's okay." Daryl told her, "We're gonna be just fine. We're not gonna let anything happen to each other, are we?"

"I guess not." Elise answered, taking a deep breath, "Facility-wide decontamination? I mean, what is that?"

"I dunno." Daryl replied, trying to calm her down by touching her shoulders softly, "But I do know I ain't going down without a fight. We'll be fine."

After his words, to his amazement, Elise leaned forward and embraced him, hugging him tightly to her. She ran her fingers into the hair at the back of his head and she pressed her lips to his cheek gently, sending a jolt of electricity flaring right through his body. Damn his heart. Damn it. The feeling of utter bliss rolled through him as she gripped onto him tightly, and he closed his eyes and awkwardly held her in return, feeling her sigh into his neck.

"Thank you." She whispered, "Thank you for everything."

Moving from his arms, Elise smiled at him softly and looked into his eyes, noticing that something had changed in them. Daryl had never been held like that before. Not even by his own mother. He needed to kiss her. He had to kiss her, his stupid insecurities be damned. Her smile quickly faded as his hands moved to her waist and they slid to her hips, gripping her tightly. He was looking at her lips, and then his eyes met hers in a long, unwavering gaze. All he could think was to kiss her while he had the balls to. Cautiously, he leaned forward, watching Elise as she moved closer to him, her eyes slipping closed.

Suddenly a whir sounded above them, and the room was plunged into darkness, breaking them from their moment. Elise gasped and looked above them, gripping onto Daryl's arm as he led her out of the room. Everyone else's room had also shut down, and unbeknownst to Daryl and Elise, the air conditioning had turned off too. Elise looked terrified, and so did the others, who had no idea what was happening.

"Hey, what's going on?" Daryl asked as Jenner walked past, "Why'd everything turn off?"

"Energy use is being prioritised." Jenner answered as he carried on down the corridor, hearing the others following him.

"Air isn't a priority? And lights?" Dale asked as Jenner sped past him.

"It's not up to me." The doctor answered mysteriously, rolling his eyes at the sounds of feet pounding after him, "Zone five is shutting itself down."

"Hey!" Daryl called after him, "Hey! What the hell's that mean?"

When Jenner didn't answer him, he pulled himself free from the death grip Elise had on his arm and moved faster after the doctor. Whatever he was hiding was important and probably something the group didn't want to hear but they needed to know what was happening. If there was any danger they'd have to leave.

"Hey, man, I'm talking to you." Daryl snapped, "What do you mean it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?"

"You'd be surprised." Jenner replied as they entered the big room, watching Rick, T-Dog, Shane and Glenn approach from the basement area.

"Jenner? What's happening?" Rick asked in a low tone, causing Elise's stomach to drop.

"The system is dropping all non-essential uses of power." Jenner answered him, "It's designed to keep the computers running until the last possible second."

He saw the clock at the other end of the room and nodded, huffing bitterly as it hit the thirty minute mark. Everything here really did run precisely to the second.

"Right on schedule." He said, turning to the group, "It was the French. They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people ran away or committed suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs until the end. They thought they were close to a solution."

"What happened?" Jacqui asked, bewildered.

"The same thing that's happening here." Jenner responded, "No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?"

"Lori, grab our things." Rick instructed, "Everybody. We're out of here now."

Daryl grabbed hold of Elise without a second thought and started to lead her to the door, but when a loud blaring alarm started up, the pair of them winced at the noise. Elise gripped Daryl's arm tight enough to cause him to flinch a little, but he knew she was scared. Even he was getting scared.

"What's that?" Carl asked, clearly frightened as Vi's ever stoic voice blasted into the room.

"Thirty minutes to decontamination."

Jenner moved down from the main computer stations as Shane yelled at him for answers, before telling the group to get their stuff. As Daryl and Elise reached the door however, it closed on them, causing Elise to grip onto the hunter in fear again. She stared at the door, chest heaving and heart pounding as she realised that they weren't going anywhere.

"Oh, my God... He locked us in." She breathed, tears filling her eyes as she pressed herself into Daryl's chest, "He just locked us in!"

Instead of holding onto her, Daryl growled like an animal and started racing towards Jenner, screaming at him. Throwing her hands to her mouth, Elise leaned against the railing, feeling her heart racing hard in her chest. Jacqui approached the young woman and carefully eased her from the railing and back down the ramp, placing a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Elise? Come on, sweetie..."

"Jenner. Open that door. Now." Rick ordered, voice shaking due to his anger.

"There's no point." Jenner replied, "Everything top side is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed."

"Well, open the damn things!" Shane yelled, finally letting go of Daryl who looked about ready to kill the doctor.

"That's not something I control." Jenner responded, pointing at Rick, "The computers do. I told you. Once that front door closed it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that. It's better this way."

"What is?" Rick snarled, "What happens in twenty-eight minutes?"

"Do you know what this place is?" Jenner yelled, startling everyone, "We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponised smallpox! Ebola that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!"

Calming himself, he sat in the chair at the computer that was switched on. Daryl glared at him and then cast a look at Elise, who was staring at the doctor wide-eyed. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't even move. This was the fate that God had decided to give them? The real danger wasn't outside where the walkers were anymore. It was in here, with this man in front of them. Elise would gladly be out with the walkers instead of this right now.

"In the event of a catastrophic power failure and a terrorist attack, for example, HITs are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out." Jenner explained.

"HITs?" Rick asked, watching the doctor's expression change to one of utter resignation.

"Vi, define." Jenner instructed, closing his eyes as Vi's voice filled the room.

"HITs. High-Impulse Thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear."

Carol broke into sobs and so did Sophia, and the pair clung to each other tightly. Daryl's eyes met Elise's and he knew at that moment that she needed him more than anyone else. He moved away from the group to a now distraught Elise who tore away from Jacqui's grip and ran straight into his arms, gripping onto him for dear life as she sobbed hard and loud into his chest. They were all going to die.

"The vacuum pressure ignites the oxygen between five-thousand and six-thousand degrees, and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."

"It sets the air on fire." Jenner said quietly, watching the group grip onto each other as they realised their fate, "No pain. An end to sorrow. Grief. Regret."

Elise could feel Daryl shaking but it wasn't with fear. It was with pure rage that they'd had the choice to survive taken away from them. He didn't care who was watching as he held onto her. He knew this could be the only chance he'd get to do this and he wasn't about to pass it up for fear of who might see. He didn't care who watched when he cupped her tear-soaked face and kissed her lips gently, only for a split second. It wasn't the most spectacular first kiss he'd experienced but then again, the situation wasn't great either. She pressed her forehead to his and whispered a thank-you to him before kissing him just as softly in return, only to be interrupted as a commotion brought them apart.

Shane approached with an axe to chop the door down, and Daryl had to let Elise go when he was passed an axe too. He gave her the most reassuring look he could and gently ran his fingers into the hair at the back of her head, bending so he was eye level with her.

"I gotta help Shane." He told her, "Go to the others. I'm gonna get you outta here."

Rick moved forward to remove Elise from Daryl's side, only to have Glenn approach her and wrap his arms around her instead, holding tightly onto her sobbing form. The group couldn't believe that they'd just seen such gentleness coming from Daryl Dixon, or that he was desperately trying to help them escape. Elise could tell with their faces that they weren't expecting him to help and she glared at each one of them, her expression cold and hurt.

"You should've left well enough alone. It would've been easier." Jenner told them, earning a stunned silence.

Growling, Elise marched over to the doctor and slammed her hand across his cheek, causing a sound loud enough that it echoed through the room and left a dark mark on his face almost instantly. His expression was blank as her face twisted into expression of rage and she couldn't believe how calm he was.

"You got no right!" She screamed, kicking as Rick went to pull her away, "You can't do this to us! This isn't your decision to make, you bastard!"

"You have a short, brutal life out there, and an agonising death." Looking to Andrea, the doctor continued, "Y-your sister. What was her name?"

"Amy." Andrea replied, her expression also blank.

"Amy." Jenner repeated, nodding slowly in thought before approaching Andrea again, "You know what this does. You've seen it. Is that what you really want? And you, Elise. You've seen it."

"Doesn't mean I wanna give up fighting." She sobbed, "I might have given up a day or two ago, but now I know what I have to fight for. I have a family to fight for."

Shane appeared, gasping and sweating from his exertion after hitting the door for so long and he looked to Rick who appeared quite overwhelmed by Elise's words. He couldn't believe she'd wanted to give up after everything they'd been through, but he knew that she was talking about the group being her family, Daryl especially in her words to Jenner. Everyone had seen how his first thought had been to go to her and how she'd barrelled into his arms when they heard their fate. If they made it out, Elise and Daryl would hopefully be able to have something beautiful in the fucked up world outside. Rick wanted to fight to give them a chance, as well as his family and the others around him.

"I can't make a dent." Shane puffed, leaning on one of the computers.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner answered, not hearing Daryl approaching him from the door.

"Well, your head ain't!" He yelled, going to swing at the doctor, the axe held tightly in his fists.

Elise screamed and covered her face, continuing to cry into her hands. This was far from the safe haven they'd hoped for and dreamed of. This was hell. A living nightmare. And Daryl was making things so much worse.

"Daryl, please!" She cried, looking up at the now restrained man, "Please!"

"Last night, you said it was just a matter of time before everyone was dead." Jenner said, looking at Rick and earning shocked gasps from the others.

"You really said that? After your big talk?" Shane asked Rick angrily.

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick replied, hearing Elise huff out a curse at God as she moved towards Daryl again.

"There is no hope. There never was." Jenner told them, watching Daryl embrace Elise as he calmed down, "Even you, Elise. I didn't think you had any hope left. You were so distant when you came here. Like you lost everything you believed in."

"Well." Elise said, voice low and smoky despite it's shaking through her emotion, "I got something to hope for now."

Jenner looked over to see how tightly she was gripping onto Daryl and how this time he didn't seem to stiffen. Instead, he wrapped an arm around her, and discreetly, Elise slid her hand down and took his in her own, squeezing it gently. Daryl simply looked at the doctor, daring him to comment, but Jenner simply nodded and turned away from Elise to look to Rick. Elise had found her hope in Daryl, and the others.

"There is always hope." Rick told him, "Maybe not you. But somebody, somewhere."

"What part of everything's gone do you not understand?" Andrea asked, glaring up at Rick.

"Listen to your friend." Jenner told him, "She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event."

"This isn't right!" Carol sobbed as she clutched her daughter tightly, "You can't just keep us here!"

"One tiny moment. A millisecond." Jenner said, trying to make her understand, "No pain."

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this!" Carol protested.

"Wouldn't it be kinder? More compassionate to hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Jenner asked, looking back to Elise and Daryl, "Wouldn't it?"

"Screw you." Daryl snarled, keeping a tight hold of an emotional, frightened Elise.

The cocking of a gun caused everyone to spin around and as Shane approached the doctor with a shotgun, everyone raced to restrain him. Killing the only person who could let them out of there was far from a good idea, especially since they had no idea how to get that door open. When Shane started shooting the computers out of rage, Elise and Daryl ducked down, covering their heads. It felt like forever as he blasted bullets into the computers, but finally, he calmed from his outburst. Daryl helped Elise to her feet, who kept a tight hold on his hand as she slowly edged towards the doctor.

"I think you're lying about there being no hope." She said, releasing Daryl's hand and moving over to Jenner, "If there was no hope, you'd have run with the others or taken the easy way out, and you didn't. You stayed. You chose the hard path. Why?"

"It doesn't matter." Jenner responded with a smirk.

"Oh, it does." Elise said with that deep tone she had when she was deadly serious, "It always matters. Why did you stay?"

"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise." Jenner answered, agitated.

"You made a promise to TS-19, didn't you?" Elise asked, "I know that TS-19 was someone important to you. It was written all over your face when we watched that vigil. Was it a friend? A close colleague?"

"My wife." Jenner finally answered, watching her nod sympathetically, "She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no? She was dying."

At this point, Daryl was back up the ramp and hitting the door with that axe again. He was desperate to get everyone out, especially Elise. No-one had ever given as much of a damn about him as Elise had, and he wasn't about to let that go lightly, certainly not after they'd actually kissed.

"It should've been me on that table." Jenner continued, "It wouldn't have mattered. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here! In our field, she was an Einstein! Me? I'm just Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me."

"Your wife didn't have a choice." Rick said calmly, "You do. That's all we want. A choice. A chance."

"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori begged, now very emotional herself.

Jenner looked around the group and sighed, looking at them with a hint of remorse and regret. He'd made the decision. They didn't have long but maybe they could find a way to get out topside. He'd let them go.

"I told you, topside is locked down. I can't open those." He explained, moving to unlock the door.

The clock had four and a half minutes left, and as everyone made for the doors, the group was stopped by Jacqui, who broke the awful news that she was staying behind. She pulled T-Dog into one last hug and told the others not to bother trying to persuade her otherwise. Daryl reached forward as Elise approached him, tearful and frightened, and gripped her wrist as the group raced to their rooms. Daryl burst into their bedroom, throwing Elise's bible, the box with the crucifix inside and the one shirt he'd changed into her bag.

"Boy, am I glad you didn't unpack." Daryl told her as he grabbed the backpack from the floor and hurried outside again to meet the others.

Reaching the top level, Elise looked around for Andrea and Dale, frightened that she couldn't see them. She really hoped they weren't trying to persuade Jacqui to leave because even she knew it was a waste of time. T-Dog was trying the doors, but they wouldn't open, no matter how many buttons he pressed, and Glenn was trying to help, but was as frantic as him. Shane on the other hand ran past with the axe he had earlier in his hand, and he patted Daryl on the shoulder, drawing him from the woman in his arms.

"Daryl, I need you here." Shane breathed, panting for air as Daryl followed him without question.

Carol approached Elise who bit her lip as the windows wouldn't break, even when Shane shot them. Then, a thought came into her head. A memory from when she and Rick first got into Atlanta. The corpse that she'd looted in the tank had maybe the only thing that would help them escape.

"Carol! You washed Rick's clothes our first morning in camp..." She breathed, gripping the older woman's arms, "What did you do with that hand grenade he had on him?"

"Its in here..." Carol said, gesturing her bag, causing Elise to break out into a huge smile, "I never knew if we'd need it."

"Oh, man... I love you, Carol!" She told her, kissing the woman's forehead and grabbing the grenade from her hand, "Rick! Remember this?"

"Oh, thank God..." Rick gasped, taking the grenade from her and running to the window, "Everyone get down, now!"

The group hurried to take cover as Rick prepared the grenade, curling in on themselves to protect themselves from the explosion. Elise gripped onto Daryl as she watched Rick remove the grenade's pin and she heard him curse as he sprinted from the window. As it blew apart, she covered her ears as fast as she could, but when the noise died down she felt herself being hauled up by Daryl, who was clearly desperate to get her out. The group climbed out of the busted window as fast as they could, and Shane hurried forward shooting walker after walker as they crossed the lawn. Through her tears, Elise shot down a walker that was approaching Carol and Sophia, quickly stopping to retrieve her arrow. She didn't know how long they had to get away but they had to move and fast.

Stepping in front of her, Daryl chopped the head off an approaching walker, and he reached back and grabbed Elise's arm, yanking her across the lawn of death as they hurried to his truck. Getting inside, Daryl threw Elise's bag behind his seat, getting ready to start the engine.

"Look!" Elise cried, pointing towards the building where Andrea and Dale were finally approaching them, "Thank God..."

When they heard the horn of the RV blaring, Daryl grabbed Elise and shoved her down hard into her seat, covering her body with his own. She gripped his hand tightly, breathing heavy and hard as they waited for the inevitable explosion.

The heat and the sound were loud enough to make Elise scream in utter terror, but Daryl just held her tighter, feeling the panic rising in his chest. They were close enough to the blast zone to get snarled up in it and he had a horrible feeling that they just might. But the noise slowly died down and all that could be heard and felt was the crackling of the raging inferno that was once the CDC.

As they slowly sat up, Elise burst into tears. Jacqui and Jenner were gone. They'd only just made it out alive, Dale and Andrea especially, and the events of the past half hour had taken their toll on the twenty-four year old. Daryl recovered from the shock of what he was seeing outside the safety of the truck, and quickly pulled her into him, kissing her lips hard enough to bruise them.

To hell with his insecurity. To hell with all of that. Elise had changed his life since she'd come into it a mere few days earlier and he'd be damned if he was going to waste a second he got with her because he was insecure about showing his affection for her. Yeah, he wouldn't be able to be this lovey-dovey guy she probably wanted, but he could try and make it work. He'd been given the chance to have something special and good for once, and he wasn't about to give it up.

When he pulled away, he saw a brief smile appear on her face as she reached forward and hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek and his temple while running her fingers into his hair.

"You alright?" He asked her, feeling her nod against him and breathing a sigh of relief, "Jesus..."

As the engines of the other vehicles started up, Elise released Daryl and sat back in her seat, wiping her eyes and taking deep breaths as he started up the truck. They shared a look and small smiles before Daryl set off, making sure that Shane was okay behind him, and as he rested one hand on the wheel, he felt Elise slip her hand into his free one and squeeze it tightly.

Where were they going to go now?

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed!  
**

**Thanks for reading so far!**

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	18. Honesty

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Hi, guys! Chapter nineteen is in progress. I hope that I've made a good choice with the Daryl/Elise pairing and I'm trying hard to write a relationship that keeps Daryl and Elise in character. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and there are more secrets to come out about Elise's past other than the one mentioned in this chapter. This is a chapter set in between the end of season one and the start of season two, just to have some time for me to do some more completely original chapters before getting back into episodes.

**MonkeysGoBoo: **Here's the update you wanted ;) I'm glad you're loving the story so far and I only hope it can get better for you.

**ShadowXMoonlight: **Sophia dying is awful. I'll have trouble writing that part, I can feel it coming. Thanks for the review!

Happy reading!

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**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Eighteen: Honesty**

The caravan had been driving for three hours when they came across a deserted motel on the roadside.

They needed to rest. They needed to conserve what little fuel they had, so it was the perfect place to decide what to do about that situation. Checking the area didn't take long. Daryl and Elise had moved swiftly and silently, only finding two walkers in the building and three outside. There was a gas station just down the road with a convenience store attached to it, so it was a great place to stay even if it was just overnight.

"Rick and I will go on ahead and see what we can get from the gas station." Shane told the group as they all stood outside their cars, "Take as little as you can into your rooms and leave the rest in your vehicles. Make sure that you all have something in your rooms to defend yourselves with. Don't want any of you unable to protect yourselves."

"If you're not back in an hour someone will come look for you." Lori told them, earning nods from the men in front of her before looking to Rick, "Please, please be careful."

As Shane and Rick left, the group began to decide who was sleeping where, and made their way into the rooms. As soon as Daryl and Elise got into their room, they let out heavy sighs and made their way towards the double bed that sat to the right of the door against the wall. Elise sat herself down on the slightly bumpy mattress, rubbing her hands over her face and taking a sharp breath as she thought of everything that had happened since she joined the group. Daryl sat beside her, a little awkwardly, not really knowing what to say. He looked over at her and then back at the floor, waiting for her to speak first.

"Do we need to talk, Daryl?" She asked, "About the CDC. About us...?"

Daryl took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair with no idea how to respond. Did they need to talk? Did they have to set ground rules? Were they going to go through with trying out a relationship? It was the end of the world after all. The best thing Daryl realised he could do was be honest. A little honesty never hurt anyone. Hell, he was the bluntest guy in that entire group. He wasn't afraid to tell people what he thought, and he wasn't going to chicken out of being honest with Elise.

"Well... I know what I want." He answered, gently placing a hand on her knee, "I didn't just kiss you for the hell of it. I don't just dish hugs out to all and sundry either."

His choice of words caused a smile to break out onto her face and he nudged her gently, elbows resting on his knees as he clasped his hands together, looking at her with warm eyes and a satisfied grin of his own. He liked it when she smiled at him, especially when it was him that had made her smile.

"You ain't smiled like that in a while." He told her, "You don't smile like that for anyone else."

"I don't." She agreed, nodding her head, "'Cause no-one else makes me smile like this. Sounds stupid after only four days together, Daryl, but you've been driving me crazy. I'm glad you didn't kiss me for the hell of it. I'm glad you drive me crazy. I like you... A lot. Maybe a relationship isn't a great idea during an Apocalypse, but when is there a right time for a relationship? I wanna give us a chance. If you want to, that is."

"Yeah... Like I said. I know what I want." Daryl said, smiling at her rambling, "I ain't good at this. Don't be expecting me to become a fucking Romeo or something overnight. I know I like you but don't think I'm gonna become some soppy bastard 'cause of that."

"I never would." Elise replied with a smile, "I like you for you."

"I ain't good with words or my feelings, but I can try." He said quietly, "It ain't gonna be easy."

"Nothing about this life is easy. What's one more little challenge?" She responded, leaning over and kissing his cheek, "I want you. I care about you. And you want to give this a try. That's more than enough for me right now, okay?"

Daryl nodded, stiffening as her lips pressed against his tenderly. He wasn't used to tender and gentle. Merle had sent women to him just for sex and they'd just wanted rough, fast, hard sex. Daryl really didn't know what tender and gentle was, until he met Elise. She showed him complete respect for his dignity when telling him about what had happened to Merle. She'd shown him friendship and loyalty when she'd offered to go back to Atlanta with him to find his brother, and she'd known him for a mere few minutes at that point.

Her telling him that she wanted him was like a dream. Women like Elise were so far out of his league, he thought. He didn't know why she'd want to be with a stupid hillbilly like him, but he wasn't going to give up the chance to be with her if it was what she wanted.

"Shall we go and see what the others are up to?" She asked him after they broke their kiss, "I'd like to go and see the kids..."

Daryl nodded in agreement and gave her a quick kiss on her lips before heading out to join the others.

* * *

Rick and Shane had turned up with very little food, so Daryl, despite Elise's protests, had gone to the woods to try and catch something decent for the group to eat. He'd accepted a goodbye kiss from Elise on the cheek and she'd watched him walk across the field behind the motel and into the trees beyond. Carol came up to her and rubbed her back gently to comfort her, earning a weak smile from the young woman who went to spend some time with Dale, joining him on the roof of the RV.

"Hey, Dale." She greeted him warmly, opening her arms for a hug from the older man, "God, I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too, dear." Dale replied with a sigh, "So, what brings you up here?"

"Thought I'd keep you company." Elise said brightly, sitting herself down stretching in the sunlight.

"So, you and Daryl, huh?" Dale began, nudging her gently with a warm grin on his face, "How'd that happen?"

Elise smiled to herself and fought the blush that was creeping onto her cheeks. She felt like a young girl all over again, thinking of how Daryl made her feel. It had just happened. If it weren't for the lights going out in their room at the CDC, she was sure they would've kissed. They were more alike than people thought and they had a lot more in common. They'd spent a lot of time together in their few days with each other and it had just led from one thing to another.

"It just did." She responded, running her hand through her long auburn hair, "I dunno... We've been there for each other through a lot over the past few days. He's a good guy underneath. I think I'm the only one who sees that. I think that's what brought us together."

"It's his temper that concerns me." Dale said quietly, "I don't wanna make him out to be a monster, but he has a vile temper."

"I know." Elise agreed, "But, you should've seen him... When we rescued Glenn in Atlanta, and my leg gave out on me, he was right there to pick me up off the ground. And, at the CDC he took care of me. You saw that."

"Well, I'm very happy for the pair of you. It's finally good to have something positive come out of this mess." Dale told her, looking through the binoculars, "He'll be okay, you know. He knows what he's doing out in those woods. He's had plenty of practice."

Standing up to leave, Elise took one more look at the older man and gave him a small smile, shaking her head as she looked towards the woods Daryl had disappeared into. She sighed, wondering what he was up to out there.

"I never doubted that, Dale." She said softly, "See you."

"See you, Elise." He replied, watching her climb back down the ladder and head back to the motel.

* * *

"Got us one rabbit and two squirrels." Daryl said, placing his catch on the office's kitchen table, clearly disappointed, "There ain't much out there."

"Hey, you did your best." Rick said quietly, "We're all grateful. Really."

"Yeah, well." Daryl replied, not really knowing how to take Rick's words as he scratched the back of his neck, "Gotta eat, I guess."

Rick eyed Elise who was waiting in the doorway, fingers hooked in the belt loops of her jeans as she leaned against the door frame, her eyes trained on Daryl and her expression blissful. Daryl was confused by the smile on the other man's face, but he didn't let it bother him. He simply lifted his crossbow so it rested across his shoulders and chewed his thumb, looking up as Rick spoke to him.

"I think someone's waiting to welcome you home." He said, watching Daryl turn to see Elise in the doorway who beamed at the sight of him.

Daryl gave her a small grin as she approached him, half expecting her to throw herself on him and kiss him, but she simply said hello in the sweetest voice he'd heard from her. He realised that she was waiting for him to decide what kind of greeting he wanted to give her. She was incredibly considerate of his feelings. He'd never had anyone be considerate of his feelings apart from Merle, and for Merle to be considerate was very rare.

"Hey." He said quietly, deciding to lean down and kiss her cheek, "I'm filthy... Sorry..."

"That's okay." Elise answered, "Means you've been working hard. Why don't we go back to the room? You can get cleaned up."

She gave him a bright smile and bounced back and forth on the balls of her feet, hands behind her back. She looked pretty fucking adorable for a badass, and he wasn't about to say no to being clean again.

"Alright." He agreed, brushing his rough, dirty fingers against hers as they set off towards their room.

He trudged wearily behind her, his eyes trailing up her denim clad legs to her shapely backside and then to the long auburn locks that cascaded down her back. She looked prettier with her hair down like that. He was filthy, sweating, and had clearly been working hard all afternoon. Elise loved how he was looking at that moment. He looked all the more handsome and rugged for being caked in dirt and sweat.

"I asked Dale to keep an eye out for you coming back..." She confessed, opening the door to the room, "I got some water ready and a wash cloth. Thought you might need it. It's just in the sink."

They stepped inside the room, and Daryl finally getting to look at it properly. The walls were a faded beige colour and the carpet was a grubby, darker shade of the beige on the walls. The bedspread at least looked clean, but it was old and worn. It wouldn't matter for just one night. Elise's backpack sat in front of the table at the left side of the bed, which supported one dusty lamp and a cheap, dirty phone. He smiled when she said that she'd asked Dale to watch for him coming back. It meant she'd missed him and had worried about him.

Despite the room's state, Elise had tried to clean up a little, and had made up the bed for them. In her giant backpack, Elise had been carrying Daryl's clothes, and she had picked out a clean shirt for him. She'd smiled widely when she'd seen he'd torn off the sleeves of it, and had placed it with his only other pair of jeans, folding them and laying them on the small dresser that sat opposite the bed. Next to his clothes were some of hers for the morning after, and her hairbrush sat neatly on top of the clothes. She saw him looking around the room and she smiled bashfully, brushing a strand of hair over her ear.

"I tried to make it a little more pleasant..." She said quietly, wringing her hands nervously and beckoning him to the bathroom, "I'll give you some privacy... The sink's full and the cloth's a clean one, so..."

Daryl nodded to her in thanks, stopping as she leaned up and kissed his lips gently, finding himself wanting to deepen the kiss. They'd not had a kiss as heated yet. Sure, the kiss outside the CDC was pretty intense, but this one had intensity all of its own. Their hands gripped onto each other's clothes and skin, their lips moved slowly, but they were pressed hard enough together to bruise one another. Their breathing, heavy and deep was the only sound in the room apart from the occasional ruffle of clothing and the meeting and parting of lips. When they pulled away, Elise's face was flushed and lips swollen. Daryl was breathing heavily, and his lips were also swollen. God, that woman knew how to kiss. As Elise reached up for one more brush of lips, Daryl gently put his hands on her waist and looked down at her, not really knowing what to say. Where did they go from here? They knew almost nothing about each other, yet they were all over each other.

"Wow..." Elise breathed, biting her lip softly, "Damn, Daryl..."

Daryl smirked at her and then simply turned to the bathroom, heading inside and closing the door. Elise beamed, hands going to her mouth. She'd not had a relationship since she was eighteen, so she felt like a kid all over again. She felt those butterflies of excitement and that rush of joy that swept through her at Daryl's kisses. Her heart had stopped when he'd kissed her so passionately. She'd never been kissed like that in her life, and she hadn't expected that kind of passion to come from Daryl. She heard the cloth being wrung out in the bathroom, and she sighed as she imagined his muscles flexing with each movement of the cloth as he cleaned the grime and dirt from his body.

"Hey, Elise? Can...? Uh... Can you pass me that clean shirt?" Daryl asked through the bathroom door, startling Elise from her reverie, "This one's disgusting..."

"Oh, sure..." Elise said sweetly, going to the dresser and getting the black shirt before knocking on the bathroom door gently, "Daryl?"

"Hang on." Came the gruff reply, and slowly the door opened just enough for Daryl's hand to slip through the gap to reach for the shirt, which Elise passed him carefully, "Thanks."

Elise jumped as he slammed the door quickly, but before she had time to think about why he'd shut the door in her face like that, she turned at the knock that came on their room door. She moved to answer it, smiling as she was met with Carol who smiling as brightly as her. Elise hadn't really spoken a lot with Carol, but she was a nice enough woman, and Sophia was an adorable kid. She wanted to spend more time with the older woman.

"They've started making dinner..." Carol said warmly, looking into the room to see if Daryl was around, "We'll be eating in the office, when you and Daryl are ready."

"Thanks, Carol. We'll be there soon." Elise said quietly, " He's just cleaning up."

"Well, join us when you're ready." Carol said softly, saying her goodbyes before heading towards the office again.

Elise closed the door behind her and headed over to the bed slowly. She'd been thinking about talking to Daryl about her previous relationships, just so he knew that he wouldn't be the only one struggling to adjust. She didn't really know whether it would cause him to doubt getting involved with her but he had a right to know what he was getting into. She sighed, clasping her hands together and putting a big smile on her face for Daryl as he exited the bathroom. She didn't need him to know she'd been worrying. Slowly, she stood up and rubbed her palms on her jeans before resting her hands in her pockets, looking at him with bright eyes.

"Carol says they're making dinner..." She told him as he put his dirty shirt in her backpack, "If you wanna go join them."

"In a while." Daryl answered, scratching the back of his neck as he saw her anxiously wring her hands again, "The room looks nice. You did this for me...?"

Elise nodded in response and ducked her head playing with her fingers as heat rose up into her cheeks. She knew he was trying to thank her and trying to be appreciative of the work she'd done to make the room nice for him. She understood that this was hard for him. It was kind of hard for her too, since none of her relationships had been all that great.

"It's real nice." Daryl said again, earning a small smile from her.

She realised that she needed to tell him. It might even help him to know that she was in the same boat as him. She wasn't good with feelings either, but she knew that they could work through it together. She had her scars, and she was pretty sure Daryl would have some too. Maybe letting him know he wasn't alone in this was what he needed.

"Thank you." She said quietly, reaching out for his hand, "Can I talk to you?"

Stiffening at her words, Daryl narrowed his eyes and let out a huff, shaking his head at her incredulously. He had a feeling she'd change her mind sooner or later. She wouldn't want to be with someone like him.

"You backing out already?" He asked, hiding his hurt behind an angry voice, "That why you been acting all weird since I came back?"

"No, just hear me out." Elise said quietly, "I swear, it isn't what you think. Please?"

Daryl nodded at her, but didn't approach, which hurt Elise a little more than she thought. She pulled her hand back and folded them in her lap, bowing her head and sighing heavily. She didn't want him to think she was backing out of being with him. Suddenly, she tensed, hearing him slowly trudge towards her and feeling the weight shift on the bed as he sat down. This was it. No going back now.

"You aren't the only one who's gonna have trouble adjusting to this... To us." She said quietly, unable to look up at Daryl, "I haven't had a relationship since I was eighteen. Six years on your own means you're gonna have a hard time getting used to being with someone else again."

"Six years... That's a long time." Daryl said quietly.

"It was a personal choice." Elise replied, "But, I don't have any experience with relationships. Not really. I fooled around with guys when I was in high school, but my first serious boyfriend was when it all went to hell... And I didn't see the point after..."

Daryl nodded in understanding and reached over to take her hand, noticing her turn away from him more. Maybe she found it hard to talk about this stuff face to face. He felt her fingers tighten around his and watched as she brushed her spare hand through her hair, keeping her face hidden from view.

"Intimacy isn't something I'm familiar with." Elise explained, "Any physical intimacy we share will be a difficult experience for me... There's a reason I don't like being touched from behind..."

Daryl paused, turning Elise to face him only to find her eyes to be full of heavy, thick tears. He felt her grip on his hand tighten almost painfully as she hid her face again, her body beginning to shake. He heard her taking a deep breath, and saw her body still. She was fighting the upset and fighting the tears. She wasn't going to get overly upset. She was going to stay calm. Repeating that mantra in her head, she finally lifted her gaze to meet his once more, trying to be strong.

"You telling me you were raped?" He asked, feeling anger beginning to bubble up inside him at the thought of someone doing that to her, "Your last boyfriend raped you?"

"Yes. He did." Elise answered quietly, "I just thought that you should be fully aware of what you're getting into."

"So... If I'm the first guy you've been with in six years, what makes me so special?" Daryl asked, watching the way her eyes began to tear up again.

"The first time I looked at you, I felt a flutter in my stomach." The young woman whispered, "Since then I couldn't stop thinking about you. I just hope you're still willing to give me a chance... Despite what I told you."

"What you told me doesn't change a thing." Daryl answered, "I know we need to take our time. I'm trying, Elise."

"I know." The young woman whispered, smiling at him gratefully as she wiped her eyes, "Thank you. Sorry... I've cried so much lately..."

"How about we get some dinner?" Daryl suggested, "I'm starving..."

Elise smiled at him and nodded, sniffling as he pulled her up from the bed and slid an arm around her waist. As he expected, she wrapped her arms around him in a gentle hug, whispering words of thanks into his shoulder as he pressed a soft kiss to her head.

Leading her out of their room, Daryl couldn't help but feel angry and upset about what she'd told him. What kind of sick bastard could hurt a woman like that? All Daryl could hope was that said sick bastard had been torn apart by walkers... Slowly. As they joined the rest of the group for dinner, Daryl watched Elise sit down next to Carol with a beaming smile on her face as the women started to chat, and he felt a wave of protectiveness come crashing over him in a tidal wave.

He'd be damned if he let that girl get hurt again.

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	19. On The Highway

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **So, here we are! Chapter nineteen! I'll do my best to write chapter twenty tomorrow, but I have work and some errands to run, so it may not be finished and published until Sunday. I really hope you enjoy this and thanks for the support so far!

**ShadowXMoonlight: **When is Daryl not sexy? ;) Thanks for the review!

**MonkeysGoBoo: **I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter! I'm also glad you like Daryl and Elise as a pairing! Thanks for reviewing!

**shika93: **So sorry! I didn't get your review for chapter seventeen until I uploaded chapter eighteen. Thanks for both reviews! Your support means so much to me, honestly!

Happy reading!

xxxxxxxxxxxx

* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Nineteen: On The Highway**

At dinner, the plan for the following morning was revealed, and the group were to leave as early as possible.

The group had decided to check out Fort Benning, and Daryl would lead the way on his brother's motorcycle. Shane, Andrea, Glenn, Dale, T-Dog and Elise would ride in the RV. Finally, Rick, Lori, Carl, Sophia and Carol would follow in the Jeep Cherokee that had been owned by Carol's husband, Ed. Elise didn't like the thought of being separated from Daryl, but they had to conserve fuel. So, the first task after their meal had been to move the baggage from the vehicles they were leaving behind to the ones they were travelling in, and also try and transfer some of the fuel to give them some extra for the journey.

Daryl had taken the first watch of the night, but Elise had spotted T-Dog heading past the window to take over from him, so she knew he'd be joining her soon. Knowing they'd be sharing a bed was enough to give her chills, just because she knew it was the start of something that could become very beautiful. Sitting on the bed, Elise grabbed her hairbrush and began to draw it through her auburn curls. She was ready for bed and beyond tired, but had decided to wait up for Daryl despite this. She wanted to see him again before going to sleep.

The man in question was heading back towards his room. T-Dog had told him to go and spend some time with his woman while he still could. It was obvious that T-Dog was pretty upset about Jacqui's death, and Daryl knew why he'd told him to and spend time with Elise. He approached the door to the room and opened it slowly, seeing Elise sat on the end of the bed brushing her hair. She smiled as she saw him, getting up to put her hairbrush back on top of the following day's clothes. It was an unfamiliar thing for him to find a woman waiting for him just to see him, not to have sex. He knew that he couldn't just jump on her, no matter how much he wanted to when he saw those toned legs moving across the floor.

"Hey." She said softly, walking over to him slowly and drawing him into a tender kiss which almost blew his head off.

Her lips were soft against his, and her slender fingers cupped his face, stroking his cheeks slowly. Their lips moved lazily as his hands slid to her waist, gripping her tightly as he carefully pulled her against him. She squeezed his shoulders and pressed even closer, deepening the kiss as he ran his hands into her hair, pulling it gently when she moaned quietly at the intimacy of the embrace.

As they broke apart, he whispered a small greeting of his own, his eyes never leaving her form as she moved back to the bed slowly, her backside becoming the focus of his attention. She was wearing only her grey shorts and white vest, the strap of her grey bra just visible under the vest. He couldn't help imagining how gorgeous her body would be under those clothes.

"You wanna pick a side?" She asked, turning down the bed sheets, "I like the left, but... I can sleep on the right if you want."

"I like the right." Daryl answered, earning a big grin from her and a warm chuckle.

"Good." She said with a giggle, "You coming to bed?"

Daryl nodded slowly, watching as Elise climbed into bed, beckoning him to join her by patting his side. He swallowed thickly before moving over to the bed, getting on top of the covers and removing his boots, settling back against the pillows with a heavy sigh. Elise looked at him with confusion, a little sad that he wasn't going to get under the covers with her. It wasn't that he didn't want to get under the covers. Because he was fully clothed, he knew he'd be more comfortable above the sheets. If he took of his shirt and jeans, he could probably get into bed with her, but he couldn't strip down in front of her. Not yet. He didn't want to see the pity in her eyes when he saw the marks his father had left him with. The man had always been too friendly with his belt, and often Daryl was better acquainted with it than he'd have liked. He needed to feel ready before showing her those scars.

"I don't wanna travel without you tomorrow..." Elise whispered as she settled on her side facing away from him, "I hate it that you're gonna be so exposed on that bike."

"I never got to ride Merle's bike before all this." Daryl huffed, "I ain't passing up the chance now. Anyway, I'll just run over any walkers that get in my way."

Elise laughed quietly, turning onto her back and looking up at him with those gorgeous eyes of hers. As Daryl settled beside her on the bed and rested on his side to look at her, she felt herself blushing under his gaze. She leaned up and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, letting out a soft hum as he leaned down to kiss her in return.

"Don't you go worrying about me, okay? You should get some rest..." He told her, "You've had a really tough few days."

"So have you." Elise countered, grimacing and gently tracing his cheek with tender fingers, "You need to sleep too."

She gave him one more kiss before turning over and getting as comfortable as possible on the lumpy mattress. Whispering a sweet goodnight, Elise closed her eyes to sleep, not expecting any response from Daryl. But to her surprise, he leaned down to kiss her temple and he curled up behind her, reaching an arm across her waist. He said his own gruff goodnight and finally got comfortable, waiting for her to fall asleep before thinking of going to sleep himself. When she reached down and took his hand in her own, he felt her squeeze it tightly, and he did so in return, closing his eyes to try and get some rest.

* * *

The following morning, Daryl had woken up before Elise, so he had taken the liberty of packing up and getting them ready to go. He let the young woman sleep as long as possible, but when the time came for her to wake up, he sat on the bed beside her and gently ran a hand over her back, not wanting to startle her.

"Elise? We gotta get going." He said softly, "You just need to get dressed... I've packed up our stuff..."

"One more minute." Elise mumbled, burying her face further into the pillow.

"Shane and Rick won't give you another minute." Daryl told her as he grabbed his crossbow, "We gotta go."

"Okay." The young woman sighed, sitting up slowly and stretching while letting out a big yawn, "Can you please pass me my hairbrush and clothes?"

Daryl handed her the stuff and turned around as she quickly got dressed, again trying not to imagine what she looked like with next to no clothes on. He didn't need to get a hard on in front of her, but the thoughts he'd been having about her were harder and harder to fight. He turned as he heard her brushing her hair and packed her sleepwear up quickly for her before grabbing her bow and arrows.

"I'll take these to the RV. You got your bag?" He asked her, earning a smile and nod in response, "You got everything?"

"Yeah." Elise laughed, "Now, go. I'll be out in a second."

When Elise finally emerged, everyone else was packing up and getting ready to go, so as Daryl mounted Merle's motorbike, she approached him slowly, hands in her pockets and backpack on her back. Her hair was tied into a messy bun, curled strands of hair hanging by her face. She wore her favourite dusky blue vest and her skinny jeans, boots looking more tattered as the days went on. Daryl couldn't take his eyes away. The early morning light made her look beyond beautiful.

"You be careful... Okay?" She said softly, giving him a sweet kiss on the cheek, "I like my men all in one piece."

"Stop worrying, woman." He told her, receiving one more kiss on the lips before she turned to head to the RV, "Go on... They're waiting."

Elise gave him a wave goodbye and blew him a kiss, climbing up into the RV as Daryl set off on the bike. She shrunk back as everyone was looking at her with arched and raised brows, and cleared her throat before settling into her seat on the bed in the back.

* * *

T-Dog joined her some time later as she was reading her bible, and he stood a little awkwardly in the shaking RV as he waited for her to acknowledge him. He knew she was religious, so he didn't know if he'd be intruding by disturbing her as she read the bible.

"You can sit, honey. You don't need my permission." She said softly, putting her bible down which he looked at quizzically, "Just started it again... Keeps me going."

"Just thought I'd come and talk for a while." T-Dog answered as he joined her on the bed, letting out a heavy sigh, "It's been a rough few days."

"That it has." Elise said with a slow nod, "I'm so sorry about Jacqui. How are you?"

"I'm alright." T-Dog replied with a solemn expression, covering it with a weak smile as he rubbed his hands on his jeans, "So... What's it like dating a Dixon?"

Elise chuckled quietly and clasped her hands on her lap, looking up at the man in front of her. Everyone was going to be asking her that question, she was sure. She'd only been with Daryl for a day. It wasn't like anything significant would've happened in that time, but it was nice that people were taking an interest. She just didn't like the way the group had judged Daryl so harshly.

"It's new... It's nice." She said quietly, "I haven't been with anyone for six years, so he and I both having to adjust to new things."

T-Dog was about to respond but the sound of Dale's unhappy voice caught their attention instead. Elise felt a pang of alarm at what could have happened, so she got up and headed towards the front of the RV, watching as they pulled up at a major traffic snarl. She looked around for Daryl, listening for his bike, only to hear and see nothing.

Then, the revving of his motorcycle came into earshot and she sighed with relief, watching him as he approached the RV slowly. He looked very handsome in the black leather vest he was wearing on top of his shirt, and as he approached the window, he saw Elise staring at him, if not a little hungrily. Elise wanted to jump him. Despite her fears about intimacy, she'd found herself daydreaming about having sex with him, which was the real reason she'd picked up the bible. She wanted to make sure she wasn't sinning by thinking like that. Apparently she was, but strangely, the thought didn't bother her.

"See a way through?" Dale asked with a frown, earning only a nod from Daryl who went to turn the bike around.

"Uh... Maybe we should just go back..." Glenn suggested, indicating the map in his hands, "There's an interstate bypass..."

"We can't spare the fuel, Glenn." Elise said quietly, her eyes scanning the wreck as they passed through it slowly, "God, look at this place..."

They passed a car full of bodies and Elise gasped, hand flying to her stomach as a wave of nausea washed over her. The snarl only got worse as they moved forward, leaving them questioning whether or not they could get through. A sudden crashing sound caused everyone to startle, and Elise was grabbed by T-Dog as she stumbled slightly from being scared by the loud whistling of the radiator hose as it blew again.

Getting out of the RV took time, but eventually they were all on the highway with the others in the Cherokee moving to join them. Elise wasn't listening to the conversation about the RV. She was too busy watching as Daryl moved his strong body from the bike, covered in dirt from the journey. He gave her a subtle wink as he moved forward to look in the back of a car, seeing if he could find supplies. He loved the way she'd swooned when he'd winked at her.

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." Daryl said as Elise approached him, lowering his voice, "Bet we can find some condoms out here..."

"Oh, thinking that far ahead?" She asked coyly.

"Well... Only if you're okay with that." Daryl replied, ducking his head.

"I'm fine with that." Elise chuckled rubbing his back gently, speaking up to the group, "We could find all sorts here. Fuel for a start. Maybe food... Water... Clothes."

"This is a graveyard." Lori said, stopping everyone in their tracks, "I don't know how I feel about this."

"We have to survive somehow, Lori." Elise told her, frowning at her, "As tragic as it is that people died in these cars, they have stuff we need."

"Not like they can use it anymore." Daryl agreed, "This could be a goldmine. We could end up with enough supplies to last us weeks..."

"Come on, y'all... Just look around." Shane said, giving a nod to Elise, "Gather what you can."

As the group dispersed, Dale took watch on the roof of the RV, and Daryl stayed with Elise as they moved forward to search the cars. They headed through the abandoned vehicles slowly, and Elise tried not to look at the baby bottles and small backpacks that littered the road. So many children had been here, probably eaten in their seats. She saw a bloodied car seat inside one of the vehicles. A pink one that obviously had been for a baby girl. Taking a shaky breath, Elise looked away, feeling Daryl run a hand over her arm gently. It brought painful memories back to her. Ones that stabbed at her heart hard enough to cause her to lose her breath.

"Don't look." He said quietly, even though he had no idea of the real reason for her distress, "You don't need to look."

Suddenly, they heard shuffling behind them, and they looked around to see the others scrambling to get under the cars. Then, Elise set her eyes on them. A herd of walkers. So many of them, trudging right towards them, all hungry and ready to eat any living thing in their path. Fear caused Elise's heart to leap into her throat. She gripped Daryl's arm, unable to take her eyes away from the oncoming horde.

Daryl didn't hesitate before getting her to the ground and under a car. He got underneath with her, putting a hand over her mouth as she started to cry, feeling her trying to control her breathing as she gripped onto his arm. He was just as scared as she was, but he did his best not to show it, and he held onto her tightly to try and comfort her. A muffled cry came from the other side of the car they were under, and it sounded like T-Dog. As the herd was passing, Daryl quietly scooted out of the other side of the vehicle, leaving a terrified Elise underneath with her hands over her mouth, sobbing silently into them.

She looked up as more walkers passed, dragging their feet painfully slowly along the ground. Suddenly, her eyes met Daryl's as he hid under a dead body, and she lost it. She just began to shake uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face as she kept her hands clamped tightly over her mouth. She was beyond frightened. As walkers passed right over Daryl, Elise felt her heart stop. What if they saw that he was alive? What if they jumped on him? There was no way to get to him in time, and he'd die right before her eyes.

Their eyes never broke contact as the herd finally moved on, and as soon as it was safe, Daryl moved to go and get her. She knew he'd come and make sure she was alright, and she watched with tearful eyes as he moved a walker body to reveal T-Dog who was covered in blood. For a moment, she was frightened that he'd been bit, but as Daryl lifted him up, Elise saw a deep gash on his arm, that looked nothing like a bite which made her feel relieved. T-Dog staggered away towards Shane and Glenn who looked concerned at the state of his arm, and Daryl quickly moved to the car Elise was under as she carefully eased herself out. He saw how scared she'd been and he'd hated not being there to protect her.

"You alright?" He asked, hearing her stuttering breath as she got to her feet, realising she was far from okay, "C'mere..."

Covering her eyes again, Elise tried to control her sobbing, which became muffled as Daryl cupped the back of her head and pulled her into his chest, feeling her hands fist into the back of his leather vest. Her body shook violently in his arms, yet the slow movement of his hands over her body eventually began to calm her, as well as the soft shushing sounds he made against her temple.

"It's okay." He said softly, "We need to get to the others..."

He felt Elise calming in his embrace, and he carefully drew her back, kissing her damp forehead for a few seconds before sliding his arm around her waist, holding her hand with his spare one. She was clearly exhausted from her outburst, so Daryl made sure to take his time with getting her back to the group.

"You saved T-Dog." She breathed, looking up at him with a soft sniffle, "That was really brave."

"I wasn't gonna let him get eaten, was I?" Daryl said quietly, "Sorry I left you."

"You had reason to." Elise replied, drying her eyes as he released her hand, "I just hope no-one else got bit."

As they reached the group, they saw Carol crying heavily in Lori's arms, while Carl just stood staring into the woods. Everyone looked concerned, and as Daryl and Elise noticed rather quickly, Rick and Sophia were missing. The young woman realised that the situation was dangerous and very serious. She felt fear filling her system all over again at the thought of what had happened Rick and Sophia.

"Where are they?" She asked, looking to Lori with concerned eyes.

"Sophia was being chased by two walkers... And Rick's gone after them." The older woman replied, causing Carol to sob harder and harder in her arms, "You okay, Elise?"

Wiping her eyes and turning into Daryl's body again, Elise simply nodded and wrapped her arms around him tightly, feeling his arms move around her in return. To everyone's surprise, Daryl kissed the top of her head gently and moved her hair from her face, checking her over to make sure she was alright. Elise wished everybody would stop staring. This wasn't about her. This was about Rick and poor little Sophia.

"She was pretty scared." Daryl explained, rubbing his woman's arm gently as she took a deep breath, "I had to leave her on her own to help T-Dog."

"Thanks for that, man." T-Dog muttered weakly as Dale checked over his arm, looking to Andrea who was wiping walker blood from her face, neck and chest.

The blonde was clearly traumatised by whatever had happened to her. Elise knew she was already on edge, a situation like this was only going to make her worse. They'd not been in danger of that scale since the attack on camp. Daryl could only nod at T-Dog in response to his words of gratitude and tightened his grip on Elise, who looked up at him and kissed him gently on the lips.

They just hoped Rick and Sophia returned soon.

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	20. Searching

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Here we are, chapter twenty! I really hope you're enjoying the story so far. Any comments, suggestions or thoughts on it are welcomed.

**ShadowXMoonlight: **I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one just as much, if not more! :)

Happy reading!

xxxxxxxxxxxx

* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Twenty: Searching**

When Rick came back to the highway alone, Carol just broke down into sobs.

The ex-cop had left Sophia at the creek and led the walkers away, but when he found that she wasn't where he'd left her, he'd hoped she'd made her way back up to the highway. But that wasn't the case, so Shane, Glenn, Daryl and Rick had volunteered to go search for her. Daryl was an excellent tracker, so he was needed to search for her. It felt kind of nice to be needed, not that he'd ever admit. Elise, of course volunteered to go, which earned protests from the others, but she said she'd go stir crazy if she couldn't do anything to help. So with strict orders from Daryl to stay right by him at all times, Elise and the guys had set off into the woods to find the little girl.

Now, they were by the creek where Rick had left Sophia, and as Daryl and Rick entered the water, Elise went to follow, only to be stopped by the hunter who held his hand out to prevent her from moving further.

"You stay on the bank." He told her, and she obeyed, stepping back to give him and Rick the chance to move through the water.

He stepped towards the branches that Sophia had been hiding under, eyeing them sceptically. He wondered if Rick had been confused and had come back to the wrong part of the creek. He doubted it, but he needed to make sure. There were tracks, like a child's but he still needed to be certain before they went off in the wrong direction.

"You sure this is the spot?" He asked, hearing the sloshing of Rick's legs moving through the water.

"I left her right here." The man said, agitated, "I drew the walkers away in that direction, up the creek."

"Without a paddle..." Daryl began, looking back at Elise who was chewing her thumb nervously, "Seems where we've landed."

"She was gone by the time I got back here." Rick said, "I figured she just took off and ran back to the group. I told her to go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder."

"The likelihood is that she was completely petrified." Elise said quietly, "Panicking. Half of what you said probably didn't even sink in... Poor girl..."

"Hey, short round." Daryl said to Glenn, who was looking around the woodland, "Why don't you step off to one side? You're mucking up the trail."

"She understood me fine, Elise." Rick said to the young woman.

"I don't doubt that." Elise answered, "All I'm saying is, when you panic, you don't always pay attention to instructions. I mean, if you were on fire, would you stop, drop and roll? No. You'd freak and flail about."

"She's got a point." Shane agreed, looking at Elise's toned arms as the auburn-haired woman folded them over her chest, "The kid's tired and scared, man. She had her close call. Two walkers. You really gotta wonder how much of what you said stuck. Elise is right."

Daryl didn't like the way that Shane had been looking at Elise on their journey down there. Like he was checking her out. He didn't really trust Shane anyway, but the hungry eyes he was giving Elise made him more wary. He had this high and mighty attitude that made Daryl want to knock his head off, and eyeing up Elise only made that urge greater. He went back to looking at the bank of the creek with a scowl, trying not to think about it. The group had bigger things to worry about.

"I got clear prints right here." He said as he studied the ground, "She did like you said... Headed back to the highway. Let's go. Make our way back."

"She couldn't have gone far." Rick agreed, watching Elise reach down to help Daryl out of the creek, only to grunt with the exertion of lifting him onto the bank.

"Damn, Dixon..." She breathed as Daryl stepped up beside her, "You're one heavy son of a bitch..."

"Nah, you're just a weakling." Daryl replied, getting a playful swat on the arm from the young woman as he looked down at the tracks.

They began to head up from the creek, following the trail as Daryl studied it carefully. Elise had to admire how stealthily and gracefully he moved through the woodland, how focused he was on the tracks beneath them. He looked stunning, she thought. Beautiful even. While Elise liked to try and hide some of her feelings and push down some emotions, she wasn't going to deny herself the opportunity to appreciate how gorgeous this man was. He led them forward slowly, noticing the tracks change their direction quite drastically. He knelt down to examine them more closely, feeling Elise approach from behind, followed by the men.

"She was doing just fine 'til right here." He said quietly, "All she had to do was keep going... She veered off that way."

"Why would she do that?" Glenn asked, holding the gun he had tightly in his hands.

"Maybe she saw something that spooked her...?" Shane suggested, "Made her run off?"

"A walker?" Glenn asked, watching Daryl shake his head.

"I don't see any other footprints. Just hers."

"God, that poor girl..." Elise breathed, "I can't imagine how frightened she must be... I mean, what do we do from here? All press on?"

"No, better if you, Shane and Glenn get back up to the highway. People are gonna start panicking." Rick said, watching Elise's expression change to an angry glare.

"Shane and Glenn can go back. I'm staying." She told him, watching him go to protest, "I wanna stay with you and Daryl. If I go back up to highway, I'll be restless. Not only worrying about Sophia, but you and especially Daryl. I'll be better use here where I can at least help."

"Just let her stay, man." Shane said, defending Elise as Rick went to refuse her, "She wants to stay and help out."

"Okay..." Rick sighed, finally giving in, "Let them know we're on Sophia's trail, doing everything we can. But most of all, keep everybody calm."

"I'll keep 'em busy scavenging cars." Shane said, watching something change in Elise's face.

"Glenn, can I just talk to you a sec?" She asked, pulling the Korean to one side before he could even respond, "Will you do me a huge favour? I need you to look for something specific for me..."

"Sure." Glenn asked, noting how Elise's expression changed to a playful one, "Oh, no... You want...? For you and...?"

He gestured to Daryl with his head, sighing as the woman in front of him nodded with a small smile on her face. He nodded as well and received a warm hug from Elise who quickly headed back to the men, taking in their confused expressions. Glenn looked a little disturbed, which made Daryl realise what she'd asked him. He smirked up at her and shook his head, letting out a low chuckle. Damn woman.

"I'll keep 'em occupied." Shane promised Rick, looking to Glenn with a soft expression, "Come on."

Daryl wasted no time in heading off again in the direction that the tracks were going, and Elise stayed close to him, enjoying the view she was getting of his backside as he walked in front of her. She'd been checking him out a lot lately, she realised, and when she saw the way Rick was smirking at her, she blushed and ducked her head, focusing on the task at hand.

Eventually they got into thicker woodland, seeing the tracks beginning to disappear. Elise saw how Daryl had slowed down and dread settled into the pit of her stomach. What if they couldn't find Sophia? How could they find her with no trail? What would they tell Carol?

"The tracks are gone..." Rick breathed, earning a shake of the head from Daryl.

"They're faint, but they ain't gone." The hunter said quietly, pointing in the direction they were facing, "She came through here."

"How can you tell?" Elise asked, genuinely interested, "I don't see anything..."

"We ain't got time to be having a lesson in tracking." Daryl said softly, "When we find that girl and get off that interstate, I'll find some time to show you. Better if you learn in case anything happens to me. Can't find food if you don't know how to track."

"You're really smart." Elise told him, smiling at him warmly, only to get a grunt in return.

Rick just put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed slightly, letting her know that she shouldn't let Daryl's response shouldn't bother her. He clearly wasn't used to being complimented. They continued walking through the woodland, listening out for the slightest noise, but as a rustling sound came, they all ducked down, Elise arming her bow as her eyes went bigger than a deer's in headlights. Rick spotted the culprit in seconds. It was a lone walker, staggering its way through the woods. He beckoned Daryl and Elise closer so that they could see the target, and he noticed Elise's face twist in disgust.

"You guys stay put..." She said almost silently, "I got this one."

"Don't you dare." Daryl replied, earning a glare that could've put him six feet under at twenty paces.

"Come on, we don't have time for this." She hissed, standing and following the creature as it stumbled through the woods on the ground beneath them.

She whistled like she had in the department store, as if she was calling a dog, and the walker turned around only for her to shoot an arrow straight through its head before it could even register what it was looking at. The blue arrow hit the male corpse right between the eyes, which caused Elise to do a little celebratory dance as she skipped towards the fallen body, pulling out the arrow from it's head. Daryl had to smirk at her antics as he approached them, before looking out into the wilderness calling out the lost child's name.

"Sophia!"

Elise watched Rick put on the gloves they carried with them, sharing a confused look with Daryl, who just shrugged at her in response. The ex-cop was examining the body, the young woman realised, but she didn't know why.

"What are you looking for?" She asked, moving closer to Daryl.

"Skin under the fingernails." Rick replied, turning the body over, "It fed recently."

Elise's stomach twisted uncomfortably at those words and she fought the bile that was rising in her throat. She gripped Daryl's arm as her hand moved to her stomach, taking the deepest, slowest breaths she could. The smell was horrendous. Rick examined the walker's mouth, groaning and wincing as he felt around its teeth.

"There's flesh caught in its teeth."

"Yeah, what kind of flesh?" Daryl asked as Rick held some up for him to see, getting out the pair of gloves he'd brought with him.

"Only one way to find out." Elise answered, taking a deep breath as she knelt by the body, taking out one of her knives.

"Nah, you ain't doing it." Daryl told her, "You've never cut anything open, have you?"

"No." Elise replied, "I'm not useless, Daryl."

"That ain't what I said." Daryl replied, "I know you don't cope well with puking. It's gonna be hard enough for you to not throw up, without you having to cut this son of a bitch open too. I'll do it."

He took out his knife and stood over the body, watching as Elise crawled over to the other side of the walker, covering her mouth and nose out of instinct. Daryl was having a hard time cutting open the damn thing. Elise could see it on his face. The smell was enough to cause her to lose it, and she leaned away from them, quickly grabbing her hair and pulling it back.

"Shit..." She breathed, coughing as the first heave came, bringing up her meal from the night before.

She gasped for air, feeling tears stream from her eyes as she coughed again, spitting the last of it up. She sat back, groaning at the sight of Daryl continuing to cut the walker open.

"You okay?" He asked her, earning a nod in response, "Here comes the bad part."

He ripped open the walker's stomach, causing them all to lean back at the smell. Daryl didn't waste any time before shoving his gloved hands in, the squelching sounds of him feeling around the walker's stomach causing Elise to become nauseous again. It was having a similar effect on the men, and Daryl was having to practically pant for breath just to stop it getting to him. The hunter pulled out bits of rotting intestine, causing Elise to dry heave just once as she spat onto the ground again.

"I'm sorry you have to sit near my puke guys..." She breathed, eyeing the puddle of vomit on the ground behind her.

"Nah, it smells a lot better than this guy." Daryl assured her "If you gotta puke, you gotta puke."

He carried on feeling around inside, leaning closer to the body and not wanting to look at the contents of its stomach. Elise winced almost in sympathy as he moved his hand around inside the body. He was wincing too. It was clearly far from pleasant.

"Yeah... Hoss had a big meal not long ago." He said, fumbling around inside the corpse and wincing at the smell again, "I feel it in there."

He pulled what he liked to call the 'gut bag' out of the walker, earning a shriek of horror from Elise who covered her mouth again and stared in horror as he placed the fleshy bag in front of Rick. She watched as Rick cut it open, all of them struggling to not puke at the smell and the pure grossness of what they were doing.

"Oh, my God..." Elise breathed, "What the fuck is that?"

She took her knife and reached inside the opened 'gut bag', picking up what looked like part of a creature on the end of her blade. She showed it to Daryl, turning the blade so he could see what it was, watching him study it carefully.

"This gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch." Daryl said, watching Elise flick it from her knife with disgust.

"At least we know." Rick said, taking off the bloodied gloves he was wearing with a sigh.

* * *

As the trio approached the highway at dusk, Elise didn't hesitate before running over to Carol, who looked terrified, and embracing her tightly. She felt so sorry for the poor woman. When Carol saw they were alone, she got upset all over again, clinging to Elise tightly.

"You didn't find her?"

"Her trail went cold, Carol." Elise said softly, "We're gonna try again at first light..."

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own..." Carol said, breaking out of Elise's arms, "To spend the night on her own in the woods."

"Out in the dark's no good." Daryl told her quietly, crossbow held against his shoulder, "We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people would get lost."

"But, she's twelve!" Carol protested, "She can't be out there on her own. You didn't find anything?"

"I know this is hard." Rick said, "But I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there."

"And we tracked her for a while." Daryl told the distraught woman, clearly not liking how upset she was despite his attempts to comfort her.

"We have to make this an organised effort." Rick said to the group, "Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this."

Carol was too busy studying Daryl, noticing the blood on his clothes. She was so scared for her child. Elise couldn't imagine what she was going through. Daryl looked down at himself and then back up at Carol, not knowing what to say. He looked to Elise, who carefully took Carol's arms in her hands and turned her so they were face to face again. It seemed to be the only way to get the woman's attention.

"We took down a walker..." She said, watching Carol's breathing increase in pure panic, "But, there was no sign that it was anywhere near Sophia. We cut it open to make sure. Okay?"

Carol sat down on the railing, looking up at Rick as she tried to get her breathing under control. Elise knew what was coming. She was going to blame Rick for leaving Sophia out there. Rick felt guilty enough, but she thought that perhaps if Carol got it out of her system, she'd be able to make her peace with what had happened and just focus on finding her kid. She could hope anyway.

"How could you just leave her out there like that?" The distraught mother asked, ignoring Lori as she moved to rub her back.

"They had two walkers on them." Elise said, expression darkening dangerously, "Rick tried to protect your daughter. He was the only one of us who went after her."

Carol looked up at her, getting more upset. Elise's expression softened. She knew Carol was distraught, and needed to take it out on someone, but Rick had been in a really difficult position. Someone had to be on his side in this. He'd done what he had to. She wasn't sure any of them could make a choice as hard as that.

"He didn't have a choice." Elise continued quietly, "I can't imagine what you're going through, but please don't try to lay blame here. We've been out all afternoon looking for Sophia. We've told you what we found. There's nothing more we can do until morning. I'm so sorry, Carol."

"How is she supposed to find her way back on her own?" Carol asked, "She's just a child. My little girl got left in the woods."

"We did what we could, Carol." Elise said as Rick walked away, clearly upset, "Rick had to make a stupidly hard decision. We could've not gone looking for her at all. Just think about that."

With that, she took off her quiver and headed away from the group, letting tears of disappointment and upset for Carol and Sophia finally fall down her face. Daryl watched her arm move across her face and he knew she was crying, so he took it upon himself to follow her, hurrying to catch up. She knew she'd been harsh on the poor woman, but she couldn't bear it anymore. They could only do so much. Daryl's words startled her from her thoughts. He'd been walking beside her for a few moments before speaking up.

"She's just upset, Elise. Her kid's missing." He said as they got behind a car, out of view of the others.

Elise nodded silently and sat on the ground next to the car, looking around them at the graveyard of vehicles. She reached over and took Daryl's hand, squeezing it tightly in her own as the tears continued to fall.

"I know I was harsh." Elise admitted, "I'll go apologise later."

"You made a fair point." Daryl said, "But, it's her daughter. I mean, what would you be like if you lost your kid?"

The words stung Elise to her core. She didn't need to hear that, especially not from Daryl, but he didn't know what she'd been through before all this. She knew what she'd do if her daughter had gotten lost in the woods, though, and she wasn't about to spare him from her honest opinion.

"I wouldn't be sat on a highway, twiddling my thumbs and waiting for other people to find my kid." She answered sharply, "I'd be out there day and night searching for my baby until I found them. I wouldn't stop. I wouldn't sleep, or eat, or anything until I found them."

Daryl stayed quiet as Elise let out the heaviest of sighs, letting out a half sob as she ran her hands into her hair. She bit her lip, shaking her head as she looked down to her tattered boots. Her feet were sore. Her whole body was sore. She just wanted to lie down and rest but she knew she'd get no rest that night. Not with the knowledge that Sophia was still out there alone.

"That poor woman." She breathed, "I feel so guilty that we can't do more. If I could I'd be out there all night, you know? Even though Sophia ain't mine. I'd give anything to put a stop to what Carol's going through. You have no idea how much I wanna go back out and look for that kid."

"I know you wanna go back out there, but..." Daryl replied, "We can't do anything else. I don't want you going out there, getting lost and then us having another person to find."

"I won't sleep tonight." Elise told him, "I don't mind keeping watch. I can't sleep knowing Sophia's out there."

"You need to try." Daryl told her, helping her to her feet, "We need you in a good frame of mind for tomorrow."

Cautiously, he reached down and wiped a falling tear from her eyes, leaning in to kiss her lips lightly and quickly. Elise gave him a soft smile as he helped her to her feet and they set off back down the highway towards the others. Carol gave Elise an apologetic grimace and more tears fell from her eyes, so Elise broke away from Daryl and ran over to the devastated woman, wrapping her up in a tight embrace and whispering apologies to her. The group eventually headed to either the RV or the Cherokee to get some rest.

All they could do was wait for dawn to come to begin the search for the missing child.

-TBC-


	21. Prayer

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Hi again, guys! Sorry for the small delay in updates. Hope you're enjoying the fic so far and thank for the support with it!

**ShadowXMoonlight: **That is the part I'm dreading writing. Glad you enjoyed the chapter!

**shika93 and MonkeysGoBoo: **Ohhh I miss you guys! Hope you're still enjoying the fic and I get to read some more reviews soon!

Happy reading!

xxxxxxxxxxxx

* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Twenty-One: Prayer**

The following morning, the group made haste in preparing to go and find Sophia.

None of them had slept much the night before. Elise had spent most of the night sat up beside Daryl on the roof of the RV, but had eventually fallen asleep. She still looked exhausted the next morning. Carol hadn't slept at all. Most of the group had listened to her sobbing, and they'd taken it in turns to try and console her. They needed to pull together to find her daughter, but all Carol could do was blame Rick.

Elise hadn't eaten that morning. She'd passed her food to someone else in the group instead, because she couldn't stomach food. This had angered Daryl, who had taken her food over to her and slammed it into her hand. He had told her to just suck it up and eat. He knew that if she didn't have food in her belly, she'd collapse in the heat, and they didn't need her to fall sick on them. They had enough problems. Elise had promised him to eat it later if she felt hungry, and that had been good enough to make him back off.

After breakfast, the plan for the day had to be set out, as did the ground rules. Rick had called everyone around to set out looking for Sophia, and was laying out weapons on the body of a battered car.

"Everybody takes a weapon." He told them, watching as Elise stepped back, "Elise?"

"I don't need any of those. Got my knives and my bow." Elise answered, "Leaves more for you guys."

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need." Andrea said, hands on her hips, "What about the guns?"

"We've been over that." Shane spoke up, "Daryl, Rick and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles."

"It's not the trees I'm worried about." Andrea replied, watching Elise smooth out her green swing vest with an arched eyebrow, "Elise, I thought you would've backed me up on this."

"Andrea, even I can't carry." Elise answered, folding her arms across her chest which gave Daryl an amazing view of her cleavage, "And I know how to shoot. Just drop this stupid argument. We gotta go and find Sophia. Your needs aren't the priority here."

"What?" Andrea asked, "You got something you wanna tell me?"

"Yeah, quite frankly." Elise spat, walking over to Andrea slowly with narrowed eyes, "You're obsessed with having a gun. No wonder Dale thinks you're gonna blow your own brains out if he gives yours back to you. If someone pops off at the wrong time and there's a herd passing by, we're all royally fucked. Every single one of us. Then who's gonna help Sophia? You're being childish and selfish."

Andrea scoffed but Elise didn't stop there. The priority here was Sophia. She'd been just as pissed at Daryl for trying to force her to eat. She wasn't a priority either; none of that group were in this situation. Sophia was.

"That little girl is out there, scared, alone and tired, and all she probably wants right now is to be with her mother." Elise said with a snarl, "You wanna sulk like a five year old? You go ahead and do that. But we have a lost girl to find, and _she _is our priority. Suck it up and get over yourself."

When Andrea was rendered speechless by the outburst, Elise just turned away from her and walked back over to Daryl, while everyone stared in amazement at Elise. Andrea had been reprimanded like a kid in front of the whole group, and Elise hoped it had shamed her into keeping her mouth shut.

"Daryl... What's the plan?" She asked, ignoring the glare Andrea was sending her way.

"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around, come back down the other side." Daryl told the group, trying to stop thinking about how hot Elise looked when she was telling Andrea off, "Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."

"Stay quiet. Stay sharp." Rick said as the group slowly began to disperse to get ready, "Keep space between you, but always stay within sight of each other."

"Everybody assemble your packs." Shane instructed, passing Elise and giving her a pat on the shoulder.

"Dale, keep on those repairs. We gotta get this RV ready to move." Rick told the older man, who was sitting in the doorway of the RV, clearly concerned about Andrea.

"We won't stay here a minute longer than we have to." Dale assured him, "Good luck out there. Bring Sophia back."

Elise passed the small group and wandered towards the guardrail, hearing footsteps approaching her. She hoped it wasn't Andrea because she was frankly tired of the woman already and the day hadn't even started. She turned to see Daryl approaching her, crossbow strapped to his back. It was such a hot day. Her neck was already sweating due to her hair, but when she saw Daryl all armed and ready to go, she felt her body heat up even more. He looked gorgeous.

"Hey." She said quietly, folding her arms as he got to her side, "You doing okay?"

"Yeah." Daryl replied, "Even better after seeing you tackle Andrea like that. Damn, woman."

"Someone had to say something." The young woman replied, quickly tying her hair into a messy bun, "I swear, if I hear her going on about her gun again..."

At that moment, a heated conversation between Dale and Andrea about the gun was coming into earshot of the others, and Daryl had to grab Elise to stop her going over there and battering some sense into the blonde woman. When Dale was left looking upset, and Andrea stormed towards them, Elise stood in her path and stopped her going any further.

"Don't take it out on him." She said, teeth gritted with anger, "It isn't his fault. He was trying to help you. If you were that desperate to get out of this life you'd do it by any means necessary. You wouldn't be here now. You'd have slit your wrists or gone for a walk in the woods and hung yourself. You wouldn't be here bitching and whining about the fact that Dale took a choice away. The option's still there, Andrea. You just don't have the balls to do it."

Andrea looked to the floor and then back up at Elise who was staring at her angrily still.

"If you're gonna be like this the whole time we're out, I'd rather you didn't come along." Elise told her, "I don't know about anyone else. I mean, I'm your friend, but I'm sick of you already. Get rid of the petulant attitude and get your damn head together."

In her shock, Andrea arched a brow and stepped back a little, putting some distance between her and her friend. Elise looked up at Daryl, gesturing with her hand for him to lead the way. They walked almost silently, sharing minimal conversation. Elise didn't pay any attention to Andrea, who hated it that she was being ignored by her friend. Instead, Elise was watching her man walking in front of her, who kept turning to make sure everyone was alright. A while into their walk, people were growing hungry, and the rustling of bags could be heard as the group began to have small snacks to keep them going. Daryl made sure Elise had eaten something substantial to make up for the lack of breakfast before they progressed further.

Not long after, they came across a tent that was set up just in the trees, and Daryl gestured for everyone to get down. They had no idea what was in there, but everyone was hoping Sophia had found this tent and stayed inside for the night.

"She could be in there." Rick said, watching Daryl stand slowly, followed by Elise.

"Could be a whole bunch of things in there." The hunter answered, moving forward and beckoning Shane and Rick with him.

Elise stayed put as Rick asked her to, staying by a frightened Carol who stood wringing her hands out of anxiety. Trying to be reassuring, Elise put a hand on her shoulder, rubbing small circles on it to calm her.

"Carol!" Rick whispered, beckoning her forward.

Elise turned and told the group to hush before beckoning them closer as well, all of them creeping towards the tent which Daryl was standing outside of, armed with a knife. His arms were glistening with sweat, muscles flexing as he gripped the knife tightly in his hands. Elise's mouth went dry, not just at the tension of the situation, but at how turned on she was due to Daryl's large biceps.

"Call out softly." Rick instructed Carol, who had a hand to her mouth, "If she's in there, yours is the first voice she should hear."

"Sophia, sweetie, are you in there?" Carol called softly, tears in her eyes, "Sophia, it's Mommy. Sophia? We're all here, baby. It's Mommy."

When they got no answer, Rick gestured for Elise to go to Carol, and the young woman did without hesitation, hugging her tightly as they watched Rick and Shane approach the tent. They could barely breathe. God only knew what was inside.

When Daryl pulled back the door to the tent and gagged, Elise's arms tightened around Carol, who immediately threw a hand to her mouth. Elise saw Rick and Shane coughing too as Daryl entered the tent and her heart was in her throat.

"Daryl?" She called out, getting no response as Lori came and took Carol from her arms, "Daryl?!"

"It ain't her." Daryl said as he emerged from the tent, "It's some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain't that what he called it?"

Everyone was relieved that it wasn't Sophia, but now were more worried about where she was. Elise approached Daryl who was loading up his crossbow, stopping in her tracks at the sound of church bells suddenly ringing out through the woodland. They followed the direction of the sound, stopping suddenly as it seemed to be coming from everywhere.

"What direction?" Shane asked, looking around for any hint as to where it was coming from.

"Over there." Elise answered, pointing ahead of them, "I'm almost certain."

"If we hear them, Sophia may hear them too." Carol said, wiping her eyes.

"Someone's ringing those bells. Maybe calling others." Glenn suggested.

"She could be ringing them herself." Rick said, "Come on."

By the time they'd done running, they came across a churchyard, but the building in question didn't have a steeple or bells. Elise sighed and ran a hand across her sweating forehead, bending down to catch her breath.

"That can't be it." Shane said, "Got no steeple, no bells."

Despite this, Rick set off running, and so did the others. They sprinted towards the building, desperate to find the child alive inside. They reached the giant red doors, and Rick signalled for Daryl and Elise to move forward and go in first. Elise stood on the top step opposite Daryl, getting an arrow ready to fire. She backed down a step, aiming her bow and raising a foot to rest against the door. They slowly pushed the door open, revealing three bodies sat in the pews of the church.

"Oh, please..." Elise breathed, handing Daryl her bow, "Here. I got it."

"What are you doing?" The hunter asked her, watching her draw her knives.

"Come on, Daryl. It's only three." Elise chuckled, "I've taken on more than three at once before."

With that, she stepped inside the church, whirling the blades around in her hand as the walkers got from their seats to approach the group. Elise moved forward, stabbing the female walker in the head and sending her straight to the ground. As she moved to grab her knife, the other two approached her hungry and fast. She stamped on the female's head, weighing it down with her foot as she retrieved her knife before slamming her blades into the chests of the other walkers, sending them stumbling back. She put her knives away, backing towards Daryl and taking the bow from him before lining up two of her arrows, aiming right for the hungry beasts' heads. She fired, hitting them both right through the brain and sending them crashing to the ground.

"There." She whispered, moving forward and retrieving her arrows, "All clear, guys."

Rick started screaming for Sophia which caused everyone to wince, but Daryl approached the bronze statue of Jesus at the end of the aisle, watching as Elise bowed her head and said the Lord's Prayer under her breath.

"Yo, J.C.," He spoke loud enough to catch her attention, "You taking requests?"

"Daryl." She scolded quietly, "Please..."

Daryl stared at her as she moved over to one of the pews and sat, head lowered and hands together. He watched as her lips began to move slowly, and he took the opportunity to sit by her, respecting her need to pray.

"Dear Lord... If you're listening..." She began, her voice soft, "I'm asking you to send healing to Carol and her daughter Sophia... And to help us find that little girl. Please... I'm also here to pray for the regulars. Mom, Dad, Rebecca, and of course, Amelia."

Daryl heard her voice crack at the mention of the last name, and it made him begin to wonder who it was she was referring to. Maybe a sister or a friend? Whoever it was had meant the world to her, though. It was obviously hard for her to speak of Amelia without it causing her a lot of emotional pain.

"I also want to say a prayer for the people I'm with, and ask that you help us in these dark days." She continued, "I just have one more prayer especially for Daryl and Merle Dixon. Please, keep Merle safe, and bring him back to us soon. We haven't given up on him. Amen."

Opening her eyes, Elise didn't even need to look at Daryl. She just reached across and held onto his hand, gripping it tightly in her own. She smiled as he leaned forward and kissed her head softly, which caused her to finally turn and face him.

"Thanks." He said quietly, fighting the blush that was creeping onto his face, "You didn't have to pray for me or Merle."

"I wanted to." Elise answered, "I just hope I wasn't wrong when I said God had left us."

When the bells started up again, everyone raced outside, only to find a speaker sat on the wall outside the church. It was just on a timer. Carol headed back inside the church, clearly upset, and Glenn followed her in, leaving the others outside. Elise set off in the direction of the churchyard, arms wrapped tightly around her torso, which concerned both Daryl and Rick.

"Daryl, I want you to go with Elise." Rick said quietly to the hunter, "Have a little time to yourselves. I think she might need you."

Daryl looked over to where Elise was, watching her take a seat on a large tombstone as she began to look through her small canvas bag, which she'd picked up from one of the cars back on the highway. He nodded to Rick in thanks and headed over to the young woman, sitting next to her as she pulled out a diary from the bag.

"You doing okay?" He asked her, noticing the tear tracks on her face, "You need to... Talk or something?"

"I'd like to share something very special with you." She whispered, sniffling as a tear fell from her eyes, "Not even Rick knows about this. But you heard my prayer, so... You're bound to ask me about the other people I prayed for, right?"

"I was thinking about it." Daryl answered, "Not everyone likes digging up the past."

He watched her as she reached into the back pocket of the diary and took out four photographs. She held them all with such gentleness, like they'd break if she held them too hard. Carefully she leaned closer to him, a weak smile on her face despite her tears as she began to show him the people in the pictures. The first one was of her and a young girl with dark blue hair, who couldn't be much older than twelve.

"This is my sister, Rebecca." She explained, "She got a really aggressive form of cancer just after my fifteenth birthday. She didn't make it past thirteen. She was wearing a wig in this photo. Dark blue was her favourite colour."

Daryl bit his lip as Elise took a deep breath, hiccuping as tears slipped from her eyes again. He carefully rested a hand on the other side of her, readying himself to put an arm around her should she need him to comfort her. He watched her take out the next photograph, putting the one of her and Rebecca underneath the others.

"These are my parents, Steven and Jenny." She told him, wiping her eyes quickly, "They died I a car accident when I was twenty."

She held the photos to her chest then, taking a deep breath before continuing to explain them to him. Daryl reached out and wiped a falling tear from her face, waiting for her until she was ready to carry on.

"When I told you that my boyfriend raped me..." She began, "I didn't tell you that I got pregnant by him... I was eighteen."

She pulled the photos away from her chest and showed Daryl a scan photo of her baby, feeling the urge to sob as she looked at her child. It was her thirty-four week scan, taken just a month before Elise went into labour with her.

"This is Amelia..." She whispered, "I had an easy pregnancy. I didn't want to get rid of her because her dad was an evil bastard. That wasn't her fault. So, I went through it with my parents by my side... And then it got to the birth..."

She took the scan photo back and showed Daryl the final picture of Elise holding the baby in her arms. Elise's eyes were tearful in the picture, but full of so much love for the child in her arms, whose skin was a horrid shade of grey.

"She was stillborn." Elise told him, "I went into labour a week early. It was a hard and long labour. Very painful. By the time she came out of me, she was dead. I know what it's like to lose a child, Daryl. That's why I'm desperate to find Sophia. No parent should have to bury their child."

Daryl watched her as she broke into tears again and he pulled her into his side, resting his cheek on her head. She was a lot stronger than he initially thought her to be. He felt for her. He felt angry that she'd lost her child like that. He felt sad that she'd had to go through all of that stuff. But, he was proud that she'd found the strength to get through it. She'd lost all of her family, and her own daughter. To get through that, it took pure strength.

"Thanks for listening to me." Elise said to him, wiping her eyes.

"Don't gotta thank me." Daryl answered, "I'm sorry about all the people you lost... Especially your little girl. Can't believe how strong you are to get through that..."

"You gotta." Elise whispered, giving him a weak smile, "Life doesn't stop because someone dies; that just ain't how it works. You have to keep going, no matter how hard it is."

Daryl nodded, sitting in comfortable silence with Elise as she put her photographs and diary away, watching her warily as she stood up, wiping her eyes with shaking hands. He stood with her as she regained her composure and leaned in to give her a small kiss on the lips, which she returned with a slightly deeper one.

"You alright to go back?" He asked her, earning a soft nod from the young woman who took his hand in her own, squeezing it tightly.

They set off back to the church, ready to regroup and continue the search for Sophia.

-TBC-

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	22. Confrontations

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **So sorry for the delay in updates! I've had the busiest few days. I'm going for a possible promotion at work, so I'm stressing about that. I'm clearing out my wardrobe to get some new, more fashionable clothes, and I've been spending time with my boyfriend, so writing's taken a back seat the past few days. But I'm here now with a new update, and I'll try to get a chapter done tomorrow before I go for my "interview". So nervous!

**ShadowXMoonlight: **I made Elise's past more tragic than intended, but the entire _Walking Dead _universe is tragic so, I suppose it fits.

**shika93: **Three reviews at once? I'm blessed! And that last review was awesome! I'm glad you agree that Andrea needed taking down a peg or two. Her attitude irritated me beyond belief in that episode.

Happy reading!

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* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Confrontations**

As Elise and Daryl made it to the group, Shane was clearing his throat to talk about what the next move would be in the search for Sophia.

The ex-cop saw that Elise had been crying and looked over at Daryl with a raised eyebrow, silently questioning him. Elise's face twisted into an expression of anger as she realised Shane was accusing Daryl of being the cause of her upset, and at this, Shane dropped the matter instantly. He was one of the quickest of the group to judge, especially when it came to Daryl.

"Y'all gonna follow the creek bed back, okay?" He finally spoke, "Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so, just to be thorough."

"You're splitting us up..." Daryl said, biting his lip quite hard at the thought of being left in charge, "You sure?"

He didn't know if the people here respected him, but at the end of the day, he was the only one who knew these woods well enough. He was just anxious that they'd all be judging his every move. They all judged him. The only one who hadn't was Elise.

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you." Shane answered, looking down at the sound of a small voice.

"I wanna stay too." Carl told them, stepping forward, "She's my friend."

Eventually, after a few moments of silence, Lori gave Rick a soft smile before approaching her son slowly and speaking to him gently, her slender hand easing him forward. She didn't want to let him go, really, but he had to learn somehow, and he'd be in safe hands with Rick and Shane.

"Just be careful, okay?" She told him, noticing the grin on his face.

"I will." Carl replied, leaning in for a hug from his mother.

"When did you start growing up?" Lori whispered, kissing his forehead as the group packed up to get ready to move out.

Rick approached Lori to kiss her and embrace her, and Elise and Daryl turned away from them, sharing a small kiss of their own. Daryl was happy she hadn't offered to stay behind. He needed her with him. At least someone would be on his side in this group if things went awry. He heard Rick offering Lori his gun, and he knew she'd refuse it. So, he took out the gun he'd taken from the tent earlier on, and handed it to her.

"Here, I got a spare." He said, approaching the woman who he could tell was going to refuse.

"Elise is the more experienced out of all of us, except you." Lori said, shaking her head, "She should be the one to take it."

"She's right." Rick agreed, "Elise should take it."

Daryl shrugged and handed it to the young woman next to him, who took the gun in her hands before checking it to see how many bullets she had. She had enough in case of emergency at least. She smiled gratefully at Lori, who gave Rick a reassuring look as Daryl headed off in front, checking that his girl was behind him. Andrea scoffed before following the group, watching Rick, Carl and Shane head off to search the area.

* * *

The heat of the afternoon sun was shielded well by the trees in the woods as the group trudged onward, almost in silence.

They were all tired and worn, and they weren't getting anywhere with finding Sophia. Their feet were hurting, they were all hungry and frustrated at the lack of results with Carol's daughter's whereabouts. The heat didn't help. The woods looked fresh and bright, and the greenery gave the group a small feeling of peace, despite being on the lookout for walkers.

"This is the whole plan?" Carol asked as she sat down on the log they'd been stepping over.

"I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups." Daryl said with a sigh, leaning up against a tree with his arms folded.

"Carrying knives and pointy sticks." Andrea said, glaring at Elise, "I see you have a gun."

"Why, you want it?" Elise asked, stepping towards her, "Here. Take it. I'm sick of the looks you're giving me."

Her eyes were narrowed and voice deeper than usual as she handed the gun to Andrea. The blonde scoffed again and took it from her, barely able to believe that Elise was speaking to her in such a manner.

"Same as the looks you're all shooting at Lori." Elise continued, looking to the brunette with soft eyes, "You got a chance to get it off your chest now, sweetie, so just take it."

Lori gave her a grateful look, sitting on the log and looking over at Carol, trying hard not to lose her temper. Elise had noticed that this had been eating away at Lori all day, and clearly she'd had enough. The younger woman had just given her the chance to say it.

"Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through." Lori began, speaking softly to Carol, "And I would do anything to stop it. But you gotta stop blaming Rick. It is in your face every time you look at him."

Carol just looked back at her, tearful once again. Elise, in the meantime, walked across to Daryl and began to rub small circles in his back, feeling how tense his muscles were. He was relaxed at the moment, but he had a lot of knots in his muscles. That probably came from all those days hunting.

"When Sophia ran he didn't hesitate, did he? Not for a second." Lori continued, her temper coming through, despite her hushed voice, "I don't know that any of us would've gone after her the way he did, or made the hard decisions that he had to make, or that anybody could've done it any differently."

When Carol didn't answer, Lori looked around at the others.

"Anybody?" She looked at each of them, and no-one answered, "Y'all look to him, and then blame him when he's not perfect. If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you."

"Hey, I didn't give you the chance to speak your mind for you to turn this into an attack on people." Elise said with a disgusted expression, "I've defended the actions of your husband and stood by his decisions without complaint. Daryl's been out here doing all the tracking, helping Rick find Sophia. Glenn saved your husband's ass in Atlanta as well as mine..."

Lori looked up at her and nodded, taking a drink of water.

"Some of us are being criticised without real justification. I think, now, we just need to drop this subject and get our asses in gear." Elise said quietly, taking her hair down to retie it, as it was falling around her face in a big mess "We have a little girl to find."

The sound of footsteps approaching her caused her to look up, and she saw Andrea holding the gun out to her. With a small smile, she took it, opening her arms to the blonde who held onto her tightly.

"I'm sorry." Andrea whispered, feeling Elise rub her back, "We okay?"

"We're okay." Elise replied, releasing her and giving her a pat on the shoulder, "Lori?"

"I'm not apologising." Lori said angrily, marching ahead.

"Not what I was asking for." Elise answered, "Just asking if you're feeling better and if we're okay."

"Yeah. Thanks." Lori answered sharply, continuing forward, "We're fine."

"Don't worry." Daryl whispered to Elise as they started to move towards the front of the group, "She'll get over it."

When he saw his girl give him an anxious look, he managed to sneak a quick kiss with her and he patted her back, moving her onward with the rest of the group.

* * *

The group had been on edge since they'd heard a gunshot go off in the distance.

They'd continued through the woods, but Lori had been incredibly worried about it, and had clearly wanted to turn and find out what the noise was. Daryl had tried to keep everyone moving. They couldn't possibly find where it had come from.

"You still worrying about it?" Andrea finally asked, causing the group to slow to a stop.

"It was a gunshot." Lori said quietly.

"We all heard it." Daryl answered, noticing the woman's frightened expression as she turned to look at him.

"Why one?" She asked him, "Why just one gunshot?"

"Maybe they took down a walker." Daryl said with a shrug.

"Please don't patronise me." Lori snapped, "You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker, or Shane. They'd do it quietly."

"Hey." Elise said quite loudly, "We get it. You're stressed. You're worried. We can't run around the woods chasing echoes."

"So, what do we do?" Lori asked, clearly demanding answers.

"Same as we've been." Daryl answered quickly, "Beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway."

"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV." Andrea said, trying to keep the peace as the group set off again, before turning to Carol, "I'm sorry for what you're going through. I know how you feel."

"I suppose you do. Thank you." Carol said quietly, "The thought of her, out here by herself... It's the not knowing that's killing me. I just keep hoping and praying she won't wind up like Amy."

Everyone turned away at those words. Elise cast a glance at Andrea, knowing that the words had stung her. Suddenly, Carol looked mortified at what she'd said, and her eyes began to tear up again. That really was out of character for Carol.

"Oh, God... That's the worst thing I ever said!" She breathed, grabbing Andrea's arms.

Andrea knew that Carol hadn't meant to cause any upset and that she was just frightened for her child. She knew that getting into a mood about it wouldn't do any good or make Carol feel any better, so she swallowed her upset and simply smiled at the older woman.

"We're all hoping and praying with you. For what it's worth." She said softly.

"I'll tell you what it's worth." Daryl said, walking towards them, "Not a damn thing. It's a waste of time, all this hoping and praying."

Andrea looked over at Elise when she heard a small gasp come from her, watching as her now tearful eyes were so full of hurt. Daryl had clearly upset her. Andrea knew that Elise was religious, and she'd watched her pray in the church while Daryl had been sat there, so she assumed that Elise felt like Daryl was being inconsiderate of her beliefs.

"We're gonna locate that little girl, and she's gonna be just fine." He told the two women, "Am I the only one Zen around here? Good Lord!"

With that he walked away, stopping as he met Elise's tearful gaze. Before he could speak to her, she turned her head away and moved to walk by Andrea, who put a supportive arm around her shoulders. The group was tense again as Daryl stared at Elise, earning a frankly scary glare from Andrea. He turned away and started leading the group on, wondering what the hell was wrong with Elise and why she was upset.

"I prayed for him." Elise whispered, her voice thick with sadness, "He sat there while I prayed for him and his brother. I prayed for Carol and Sophia... All of us. He knows what my faith means to me... How it's helped me..."

"I'm sure he didn't mean to... Well... Disrespect your beliefs..." Andrea whispered back, "He was just trying to give Carol the fight to carry on searching."

"It isn't just that." Elise told her, looking up at the sky to try and will the tears away, "He heard me pray for my family... My..."

"Shhh, don't upset yourself." Andrea told her, "Just keep moving. Talk to him later. You know what Daryl's like, Elise. He probably doesn't even know why you're upset, and when he realises why, I'm sure he'll try to make it better. Daryl's a lot of things, but I think he knows what a special girl you are, and he wouldn't go out of his way to hurt you."

Elise gave Andrea a soft nod and continued walking, thankful that she had her friend's support.

* * *

"How much further?" Andrea asked as the group baked slowly in the afternoon sun.

They were exhausted, thirsty, hungry, sweating and ready to drop to the ground at a moment's notice. Elise was still walking away from Daryl with her head low. She hadn't spoken to him since he'd talked to Carol and Andrea and it was annoying him that she'd not given him a reason why. He'd been thinking about what he could've done that upset her.

"Not much." He replied to Andrea, not even casting her a glance, "Maybe a hundred yards as the crow flies."

"Too bad we're not crows." Andrea said, breathless.

The group continued to walk, and Daryl continued to think. Elise had only got upset when the group had stopped just after Lori's outburst. He thought back to what he'd said and then it hit him like one giant slap in the face.

"_It's a waste of time, all this hoping and praying." _

Shit... Elise had prayed for him and his brother. He'd sat by her as she'd prayed for her family. Her daughter. Carol and Sophia. He'd not meant to upset her when he'd said praying was a waste of time. He was just trying to give Carol the push she needed to carry on. Elise's faith meant a lot to her. It was the only thing that she had left when the world went to Hell. He looked back at her, noticing her head was cast to the floor, and he hated it because he knew that he was the reason why. A sudden scream caught everyone's attention, and the group realised that Andrea was no longer with them.

"Andrea!" Elise yelled, running for her friend, "Andrea!"

The screaming was intense, making Elise's heart beat wildly in her chest. The thundering of hooves caught her attention, and Elise saw a woman on a horse come charging from the woods, hitting the walker on top of her friend in the head hard. It fell to the ground almost completely limp, and Elise ran straight to Andrea, gathering the terrified woman in her arms and holding onto her tightly.

"Lori? Lori Grimes?" The woman on the horse asked.

"I'm Lori!" Lori yelled, heading towards her.

"Rick sent me." The woman puffed, "You gotta come now. There's been an accident. Carl's been shot. He's still alive, but you gotta come now."

Lori looked horrified, and Elise covered her mouth in shock as Lori began to drop her bag, earning an angry yell from Daryl. Lori was clearly upset and needed to get to her boy, but they had no idea who this woman was, or what kind of group she was with.

"Whoa! Hang on, we don't know this girl!" He said sharply, "You can't get on that horse."

"Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?" The woman on the horse told them, "Backtrack to Fairburn Road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox. Name's Greene."

At that, the woman turned the horse, and the group watched her and Lori disappear into the distant woodland. As Andrea was helped to her feet by Elise, they both stilled as the walker began to stir next to them. Daryl simply glared at it, told it to shut up and fired an arrow straight into its head. He walked towards the pair of them, noticing Elise step behind Andrea as he passed them. He continued walking, leading the group back to the highway while he thought about how to make it up to his girl.

* * *

"What happened?" Dale asked as they reached the road, "Where is everyone?"

"We separated... Rick, Shane and Carl stayed to search near a church we found... But Carl got shot..." Elise said quietly.

"Shot?" Dale asked, horrified, "What do you mean, shot?"

"As in bullet-in-his-body shot, Dale." Elise replied, forcing herself to allow Daryl to help her over the highway guardrail as he offered to, "Anyway, we weren't there."

"All we know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori." Glenn explained, and Elise had to chuckle at how he'd been looking at the horse-riding woman when she'd saved Andrea.

"And you let her?" Dale asked, looking accusingly at Daryl.

"Rick sent her. She knew Lori's name and Carl's." The younger man answered.

"I heard screams..." Dale breathed, turning to a shaken Andrea, "Was that you?"

"She got attacked by a walker." Elise said softly, helping Carol over the barrier, "It was a close call. Don't go to her. She needs some time alone."

"What about the stink-eye you were just giving Daryl?" Dale asked her as she sat next to Carol, "What's he done?"

"Nothing, Dale." Elise said, bowing her head.

"Was it the thing he said about praying?" Carol asked her, "You know he didn't mean it that way..."

"It's okay. It's nothing." Elise answered, clearing her throat and looking up at Dale, "It's nothing."

* * *

When the group were discussing the next best move, Carol was adamant that she was going to stay behind for her daughter. Dale had tried to persuade her to go to the farm, but understandably she wanted to stay.

"I won't do it." She told the group, "We can't just leave."

"Carol, the group is split." Dale said, leaning against the RV, "We're scattered and weak."

"What if she comes back and we're not here?" Carol asked.

"That would be awful." Elise whispered, "And there's every possibility of that happening."

"Okay..." Daryl nodded, "We gotta plan for this. I say tomorrow morning's soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign. Leave her some supplies. I'll hold here tonight. Stay with the RV."

"If you stay, so do I." Elise breathed, "Without question."

"If the RV's staying, I am too." Dale agreed.

"Thank you." Carol whispered, clearly touched by their willingness to help, "All of you."

"I'm in." Andrea agreed, earning a grateful smile from Elise.

"Well, if you're all staying then..." Glenn began, being cut off by Dale.

"Not you, Glenn. You're going." Dale said firmly, "Take Carol's Cherokee."

"Me?" Glenn huffed, "Why is it always me?"

"You have to find this farm. Reconnect with our people, and see what's going on." Dale told him, "But most important, you have to get T-Dog there. This is not an option. That cut has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm. See if they got any antibiotics. Because if not. T-Dog will die. No joke."

Elise looked towards Daryl has he marched over to the bike and took a rag from it, revealing a bag that hung on the side. Reaching inside, he pulled out a bag of pills, earning a surprised cry from Elise.

"Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle." Daryl said, throwing the rag at Dale, "Why'd you wait 'til now to say anything? Got my brother's stash."

He began to rummage through the bag, looking at what Merle had been carrying with him. For once, he was glad his brother was a junkie.

"Crystal, X... Don't need that. Got some kick ass painkillers." He said, throwing a bottle to Glenn before finding one to pass to Dale, "Doxycycline. Not the generic stuff either. It's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion."

With that, he walked past the group, all of their faces twisting in slight disgust at what he'd said. Andrea headed after him as the others went to help get T-Dog in the Cherokee, and she waited until they were out of earshot before speaking quietly.

"You hurt Elise today." She said quietly, folding her arms across her chest.

"I know." Daryl answered, putting the pills back in the bag on the bike, "Didn't mean to."

"I know that." Andrea replied softly, "So does she. But you need to talk to her."

"I don't remember signing up for couple's counselling." He snapped, looking up at the blonde and glaring at her, "It's nothing to do with you anyway."

"She told me she prayed for you. She came to me, and she was upset." Andrea said angrily, "Yeah, it might not seem a big deal to you. But her faith is a big deal and it sounded like you were just dismissing it, and the prayer she said for you. I know you probably didn't intend to hurt her, but she needs to know you're sorry. She needs to know you care."

"Hey, I care." Daryl said, almost snarling, "More than you think. Don't you come here all high and mighty after your attitude today. I'll do what I have to do to make it right. Don't need your help or anyone else's."

With that, Daryl stalked past her, and she watched as Elise gave him a weak smile when he reached the group. At least it was something. And the immediate response she gave when she found out he was staying showed Andrea just how much she cared about Daryl Dixon.

The blonde let out a deep breath and headed towards the group, who were preparing to send Glenn and T-Dog to find that farm. She just hoped for Elise's sake that the pair could work it out between them. There was enough heartache in the group without them adding to the mix. As Elise turned to look for her, the pair shared a gentle smile.

Maybe things were about to take a turn for the better.

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed! **

**Thanks for reading so far!**

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	23. A Walk In The Woods

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N:** Hi, guys! Sorry for another late update! Been so busy the past few days! I start my supervisor training next week, so I may be too tired to write by the end of my shifts, but I will do my best to update as often as I can. Thanks for the continued support!

**ShadowXMoonlight: **I'm so glad you liked the chapter. I hope you enjoy this one.

**Equal-Opportunity-Reader: **Thanks for all the reviews! I don't know where I'd be without your support sometimes, hun! So glad you found time to read this fic!

Happy reading!

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* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Twenty-Three: A Walk In The Woods**

Elise winced, chewing the inside of her cheek at the sound of Carol's sobbing.

She looked across the RV's table at Andrea, who was taking apart her gun and putting it back together, and rubbed a hand across her forehead. She'd just come out of the back of the RV after sitting with Carol for a while, and her top was now wet with the poor woman's tears. Any form of comfort she tried to offer just didn't seem to work, and she'd eventually had to give up. Daryl was laying on the floor, hands behind his head as he tried to get comfortable. Carol's crying was getting to him, and the evident upset on Elise's face was the same.

They hadn't spoken much since they got back. Any conversation they'd had was brief, but pleasant. She was acting like nothing had happened, but Daryl could see it in her eyes that every time she looked at him or spoke to him, his words were all she could think about. It didn't help that Elise knew what it was like to lose a child, so Carol's pain only brought back memories of her own. He couldn't take it. The clicking of Andrea's gun, the way Elise's body moved as she bounced her leg anxiously, Carol's sobbing... The uncomfortable floor...

So, sitting up slowly, he made a decision. He was going out to find that kid.

"I'm gonna walk the road. Look for the girl." He said quietly as he put on his crossbow, looking to Elise.

"I'm coming with you." She whispered, "Let me get my bow. Andrea, can you stay with Carol?"

"Sure." Andrea replied, giving Daryl a warm smile of encouragement as he allowed Elise to pass him and out of the RV.

She figured that they were going to be sorting out what had happened earlier. That was probably why Daryl had looked to Elise first. Flashlights in hand, the pair stepped into the warm night air, giving each other small smiles as they began to head away from the RV. As Dale looked at the two of them questioningly from his place on the vehicle's roof, Elise turned to look up at the old man, giving him a wave.

"We're going for a walk." Daryl said, earning a nod of understanding from the man on guard, "Shine some light in the woods. If she's out there, it'll give her something to look at."

"You think that's a good idea right now?" Dale asked, only to be glared at by Elise, "You didn't look in the best shape when you came back today, is all. You're looking tired, Elise."

"We're going." Elise assured him, "I have Daryl here. He'll look after me."

Dale nodded softly at the pair and watched them as they headed down the highway, flashlights moving slowly across the ground. He saw Daryl carefully help Elise over the barrier and the couple headed down into the woods. He just hoped they could work out whatever was going on with them.

"You know, you are a gentleman, Daryl." Elise chuckled as the hunter kept a hold of her hand, helping her down the embankment.

"Just don't want you to fall." Daryl told her, looking between the ground and his girl, trying to pluck up the courage to start the conversation neither of them really wanted to have, "Uh... Look... About what I said earlier today..."

"It doesn't matter." Elise replied, lip almost immediately trembling as she thought of it, "I was just overreacting."

"Just hear me out..." Daryl said, tightening his grip on her hand, "I wasn't trying to disrespect your faith... I was just trying to give Carol and Andrea the kick up the ass they needed. It's like everyone's given up on this kid."

"I know what you were trying to do." Elise answered, "It's fine."

"It isn't fine." The hunter whispered, stopping and pulling her closer to him, "Damn it, Elise. I know what I said hurt you. I ain't dumb. You didn't speak to me all afternoon and yeah, it took me a while, but... Look, I guess I'm trying to..."

"Apologise?" Elise asked him, watching him nod shyly, "Nothing to be sorry for."

She kissed his forehead, then his lips, and finally his hand that was still holding hers. Daryl had never been kissed in such a tender way or treated with such respect by a woman before. It was overwhelming that one small pressing of lips against his skin could cause such a thrill. He leaned in, needing to feel her lips once again. To taste her. He needed to have her close to him, like he did in those rare moments they had alone with no-one to interfere or interrupt.

"I'm sorry." He breathed out, kissing her lips slowly for a few moments before breaking away, "I'm a pain in the ass, I know. I ain't good at any of this."

"You're _my_ pain in the ass." Elise told him, "And I wouldn't have you any other way. But now, I think we should get moving."

Daryl nodded softly at her, barely able to contain his own smile as she beamed at him, keeping their hands together. They continued walking into the woods, as quietly and subtly as possible. They didn't need to attract any unwanted attention through sound. Both of them were desperate for any sign of that poor child. For her sake and Carol's.

"You know, what Carol is going through... It's so much worse than what I went through with Amelia..." Elise breathed, "I knew. I knew that she was dead. I knew where she was. Carol doesn't know where her child is, or what's happened to her. I can't imagine her pain..."

"You'll be able to help her get through this." Daryl replied, "Doesn't matter that Amelia didn't go missing for days, you've still lost your daughter. You've been there, done that and got the t-shirt."

"I love how you talk." Elise told him with a small smile, "Really, you've got such a way with words, even if you don't use 'em much."

They walked along in comfortable silence for a few moments, moving their hands to their weapons as they moved deeper into the woodland, flashlights casting a bright glow on the ground in front of them. Elise always hated the woods, but especially in the dark. It was creepy. Daryl was still smiling a little from her compliment. He didn't get compliments often.

"You really think we're gonna find her?" The auburn-haired woman eventually asked, her expression solemn.

Daryl shone the light on her, watching her wince in the brightness of the beam. He took the light away from her pretty face, huffing and shaking his head as they continued to walk. She kept her head to the floor and Daryl bit back a growl at how defeated she looked. She was losing hope again.

"You got that same look on your face as everybody else." He said quietly, "What the hell's wrong with you people? We just started looking."

"Well, do you?" She asked, pushing the strap of her top back onto her shoulder as it slipped down her arm.

"It ain't the mountains of Tibet." He said, looking at her incredulously, "It's Georgia. She could be holed up in a farmhouse somewhere. People get lost. They survive. It happens all the time."

"She's just twelve." Elise said with a deep frown, "Twelve, Daryl."

"Hell, I was younger than her, and I got lost." Daryl said matter-of-factly, shining the flashlight ahead of them, "Nine days in the woods, eating berries and wiping my ass with poison oak."

"They found you?" Elise asked, looking across at him with an even deeper frown.

"My old man was off on a bender with some waitress," Daryl explained, "Merle was doing another stint in juvie... Didn't even know I was gone."

God, that made Elise sad. She figured that Daryl's childhood wasn't a great one. How could no-one have noticed he was gone for nine days? What kind of father would rather spend time with some waitress than his own kid? What kind of parent didn't notice their kid was missing? It made her sick to her stomach.

"I made my way back though." Daryl told her, sounding more cheerful, "Went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear... Except my ass itched something awful."

The snort at the side of him startled him, but he looked across at Elise who quickly tried to hide the amusement on her face and the laughter that was desperate to escape her mouth. She knew she shouldn't laugh but it was pretty funny.

"Sorry... I'm sorry." She said, raising a hand in defence, "That is a terrible story. Poor baby..."

She reached across and stroked his cheek gently, the twinkle in her eyes causing him to smile at her. He'd never known a girl like Elise. She was sweet, kind, had a great sense of humour. She cared about him. He'd seen the look on her face when he'd said that Merle and his dad didn't know he'd gone missing. She'd been saddened by that. She cared that he'd been neglected like that.

"Only difference is, Sophia's got people looking for her." He said quietly, taking her hand in his own to squeeze it tightly, "I call that an advantage."

The pair let go of each other's hands again and continued quietly, weapons ready to fire at any moment. Elise was growing more scared the further they went into the woods. She was glad that he knew where he was going, because everything just looked the same to her. A sudden rustling to the right of them caught the couple's attention, and the pair spun around to see what was causing the noise.

Daryl gave her a quick glance and saw her wide, frightened eyes. She was looking around in the darkness, the flashlight shaking in her hand. He stepped in front of her slightly to let her know she was safe and she was protected. She was a brave girl but he knew that everyone needed protecting sometimes and she as clearly scared.

"What the fuck?" She breathed, voice barely a whisper.

"Shhh, it's okay." He whispered, "Don't gotta be scared. I ain't gonna let anything happen to you. You got my word on that."

They followed the direction of the rustling and came across a small clearing-turned-campsite that looked abandoned. A lone tent sat beneath the trees, covered from the moonlight, and the tree next to it was the source of the rustling. Elise stepped close to Daryl, watching him search the area for the source of the noise. When they turned at the sound of moaning, the gazed in complete bewilderment at the sight before them.

"What the hell?" Daryl asked as the pair looked up, and from a tree branch hung a walker who was clearly desperate for food.

It was a male body that had clearly been decaying for a while, and the flesh on it's legs had been chewed off for the most part. Elise felt her stomach churn at the smell and the sight of the disgusting mess that its legs were left in. There was a note attached to the tree, which Daryl stepped close to read.

"'_Got bit. Fever hit. World gone to shit. Might as well quit.' _Dumbass didn't know enough to shoot himself in the head." Daryl huffed, "Turned himself into a big, swinging piece of bait. And a mess."

A groan came from behind him and he saw Elise bent over, coughing as she gagged at the sight of the mangled legs.

"You alright?" He asked her, hearing her breathing heavily.

"Trying not to puke." She whispered.

"If you gotta, you gotta." Daryl said quietly, "Just let it out, and don't let it scare you."

"I'm fine. Let's talk about something else for a minute." She breathed, keeping her head down, "How'd you learn to shoot?"

"Gotta eat." He answered, "That's one thing these walkers and us have in common. I guess it's the closest he's been to food since he turned. Look at him. Hanging up there like a big piñata."

Elise managed a smile, but felt that familiar feeling in the back of her throat. She was going to be sick. She tried to control her breathing the best she could, but it was pointless. She felt goosebumps on her arms and the hair stand up at the back of her neck. She was terrified. The thought of puking was enough to send her into shivers, and her knees gave way causing her to hit the ground, breathing hard. Daryl barely noticed over the walker's groaning, continuing to talk to his girl with his back to her.

"The other geeks came and ate all the flesh off his legs." He continued, hearing a loud splatter of Elise's puke hitting the floor.

"So much for changing the subject." Elise muttered, beginning to retch again as Daryl turned to look at her for a moment.

"Call it payback for laughing at my itchy ass." The hunter answered as Elise coughed up some more vomit.

He watched as she tried to gather herself, and she managed enough to fire an arrow into the head of the walker, putting it out of its misery. But, again, her legs gave way as she vomited once more, and her erratic breathing had Daryl worried. He hoped she wasn't having a panic attack. It wasn't like he had a paper bag with him that she could breathe into.

"Elise?" He asked softly, moving to kneel beside her, "Hey..."

He put a gentle hand on her back before moving to pull her hair back, feeling wetness on her cheek as he brushed his fingers against it. He knew she was finished puking, but the fear of it had taken its toll on her. Fear of throwing up... He'd never known anyone who was scared of puking. Biting his lip anxiously, he sat fully on the ground, turning her slowly and pulling her to sit between his thighs, her legs draped over his right leg. He pulled her into his chest, rubbing her arm gently as she calmed herself down, resting her head against his shoulder.

"You feel alright?" He asked her, wiping a falling tear away, "Do you need a minute?"

"Yeah." Elise whispered, looking up at the deceased walker, "I need a sec... I gotta get that arrow back."

"I'll get it." Daryl said quietly, "Just get yourself together. We'll had back when you're better."

"Thank you." Elise said softly, pulling back when he went to kiss her, "I've just puked..."

"I don't care." He whispered, leaning in again and capturing her lips in a soft kiss, "I'll be right back."

With that, he put his bow on the ground, climbing the tree carefully and approaching the lifeless walker. He grunted as he pulled the arrow out of the corpse's head, wiping it on the body's jacket. Elise stood shakily, leaning against the tree for support as her man climbed down, handing her the now cleaner arrow. She put it back in her quiver and gave him a gentle nod, allowing him to support her as he grabbed his crossbow and they headed back to the highway.

They walked together quietly, hand in hand as Elise grew just a little stronger, sharing soft kisses occasionally and asking one another questions. Getting to know each other better was quite fun. They talked for the whole walk back, keeping their hands together even as they reached the RV. There'd been absolutely no sign of Sophia at all, and their hearts sank at the lack of trail. When Dale approached them, they both shook their heads in disappointment and Daryl slipped his arm around Elise's waist to support her as she climbed into the RV.

"Nothing?" Dale asked as Daryl approached him, turning off the flashlight.

"Nah." The younger man answered, "We got anything for Elise to eat? We found a walker in the woods. Made her puke."

"She alright?" Dale asked as they headed towards the RV door.

"She's pretty weak... Threw up most of the food she had earlier." Daryl told him, "She needs to eat."

"There should be some potato chips in one of the bags." Dale said quietly, "T-Dog found some earlier. Doubt he took 'em with him."

Daryl nodded in thanks and climbed into the RV, giving Andrea a weak smile as she went to talk with Dale outside. To his amazement, Carol and Elise sat at the table, and Elise had said potato chips in hand, eating them slowly. Carol had found them for her when she saw the colour of Elise's face as she climbed into the RV.

"Hey..." The grey-haired woman said quietly, trying not to cry.

Daryl nodded again, this time in greeting, joining the women at the table. Elise offered him a potato chip which he refused, pushing the bag back towards her. Even when she needed to eat the most, she would offer her food to others. Daryl needed to hold her. His sweet, caring girl. He'd never been with a caring woman in his life. Carol watched Daryl's arm move around the back of Elise, smiling when she saw how the younger woman relaxed against him. It was so nice to see a couple's relationship beginning to blossom, but Carol knew that growing close only meant more pain if something happened to one of them.

"She's got some colour back in her cheeks, now." She spoke very softly, "Looked awful peaky when she came back."

"You feeling better?" Daryl asked Elise, watching her nod in response slowly before turning to Carol, "I'll get started on that sign, okay?"

"Thank you." Carol breathed, watching as he stood and moved out of the RV again to find something to make the sign with.

That left Carol and Elise alone, the sound of Elise chewing her food being the only noise in the vehicle. Sadly, Elise smiled at the older woman and reached out to her, taking her hand and squeezing it tightly. Carol smiled back, squeezing her hand in return.

"He cares about you, a lot." She stated, causing Elise to blush, "He does."

"He cares about Sophia." Elise answered her with a smile, "He's not gonna stop looking for her, I know it. He's a good man. People are really quick to pass judgement on him, but he provides for us. Keeps us safe. He was the first one to offer to look for Sophia. He was the first to offer to stay here in case she comes back. There's so much more to him than meets the eye."

"We've all passed a harsh judgement on him. You're right." Carol said softly, "He is a good man. Even Ed wouldn't have been out looking for Sophia."

Elise nodded and squeezed Carol's hand again, offering her a potato chip, which the older woman took gratefully. The pair shared a warm smile, and Carol felt a little more hope for the safe return of her daughter.

If only she knew what was to come...

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed! **

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	24. Reunited

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Oh, God! I'm so sorry for the lack in updates! I've had so much on the past week or so, it's unreal and writing this chapter has been so hard. I'm sorry to keep you all waiting, and I don't want to keep you waiting that long for an update again.

**Equal-Opportunity-Reader: **Daryl is insecure, bless him! I love him to bits. One of the most complicated characters I've come across. Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**shika93: **Thanks for your reviews on chapters 22 and 23. Your support means so much and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

Happy reading!

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* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Reunited**

Carol and Andrea knew they had very little chance of sleeping that night, so they'd decided to stay on the roof of the RV, keeping watch over the highway.

Dale had decided to examine the map to see where to find the Greene family farm, and also knew that he wouldn't get much, if any sleep at all. Daryl and Elise were very tired after trailing through the woods to find Sophia, as well as the stress of the search earlier that day, so Dale had let them have the bed in the back of the RV. He watched them for a few moments when he heard Elise giggling. He'd not heard her laugh in such a way before, and he couldn't help but smile when he saw Daryl tighten his grip on Elise as she snuggled back into him, a big smile on her face. He watched Daryl whisper something into Elise's ear before climbing out of bed, and he slid back into his seat so they didn't think he was intruding on their time together.

"Night, Dale." Daryl's gruff voice sounded quietly through the RV, so Dale leaned forward to see the young man's face.

"Night, Daryl." He replied with a warm smile, "Make sure she gets plenty of rest."

With that, the door to the small bedroom closed and the couple were away from prying eyes. Elise smiled softly as Daryl approached the bed again and climbed in next to her, turning onto her back to look up at him as he leaned over her to kiss her. He covered himself with the sheets as their lips met, and he ran his fingers across her cheek as she moaned into the kiss. When they broke apart, they gazed into each other's eyes before sharing another, deeper kiss, which Elise broke after a few moments of their lips embracing.

"You know, what you're doing for Carol and Sophia makes me so damn proud of you." She whispered, gliding her hands into his hair, "Seriously, Daryl..."

"Only doing what Rick and Shane would do." Daryl answered shyly, settling beside her, "Besides, you've been Carol's rock tonight. Helped her more than you thought."

"How so?" Elise asked, "I only did what the others have. Listened and comforted."

"Nah..." Daryl replied, "You've put your ass on the line to find that little girl. More than some people have."

He reached up to stroke her face gently, smiling as she let out a yawn and curled up beside him, leaning into his touch. She was so tired and worn out both emotionally and physically. It had been a hard few days.

"You should try and sleep." He told her, "Be no good to us if you're exhausted."

Elise simply nodded as he put his arm around her, and she rested her weary head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and curling up to him. Daryl felt uneasy and unsure as she wrapped her arms around him, but he pressed his lips tenderly to her forehead, hearing her hum in contentment beneath him.

"Goodnight, Daryl." She whispered, burying her face further into his chest.

"Night, Elise." He whispered back, allowing himself to succumb to the sleep that was pulling him away from consciousness.

* * *

Elise had been sat awake for a long time. She'd not slept for long, she knew that. But she just couldn't rest, no matter how she tried. Daryl was sleeping soundly beside her, rolled away from her, but breathing steadily. She smiled at the occasional snore that escaped her man's lips, and she would brush her fingers through his hair if he stirred, which sent him back to sleep.

She couldn't stop thinking about Carol and Sophia... About Carl, Rick, and Lori... About Duane and Morgan. Then, she was thinking about Daryl, and then Andrea and Dale. Then T-Dog, Glenn and Shane. Then Amy, Jim, Jacqui and Dr. Jenner... Of course, as always, she thought of her family and Amelia. Her little Amelia. That poor baby. She'd not had the chance to have a life. She'd not been able to meet her family. She'd died on her way out of Elise, and the young woman couldn't help but feel responsible for that.

"You okay, Elise?"

She snapped her head round in the direction of the voice that had disturbed her from her reverie, her eyes locking on Daryl's as he sat up slowly and looked at her with concern. She gave him a fake smile, brushing a hand through her long curls tiredly.

"Sweetie, I'm fine." She whispered, "Go back to sleep..."

"Not until you tell me what's up." Daryl asked as she slid her fingers through his hair again, "You need to be resting."

"I'm just thinking." Elise answered, kissing her man's lips, "Go back to sleep, darlin'."

"You thinking about Amelia?" He asked, causing her to stop the soothing massaging of his scalp.

"I always think about Amelia." She told him, removing her hand and resting her cheek on her knees as she drew them to her chest, "_Always_..."

"You wanna talk about it?"

Elise looked at Daryl tiredly and felt the tell-tale signs of oncoming tears hitting her hard. He didn't like to talk about feelings. She knew this. Yet, here he was, asking her if she needed to talk. Swallowing past the enormous lump in her throat, the young woman nodded and fought back a sob as Daryl moved to sit right beside her, putting his arm around her waist to pull her closer.

"She was my world, Daryl... Those months I carried her were the best of my life." She whispered, "I just thought that everything would be fine. I tried to be positive. I decorated her nursery with my parents... I bought her toys and clothes... She had a little pink and white dress waiting for her when she was born and it would've been the first proper outfit she wore. I buried her in it."

Daryl pressed his lips to her temple as a tear slipped from her eyes, taking her right hand and squeezing it tightly as she pressed against him. He didn't speak. What comfort could he offer her with words? Dale liked to say that sometimes words fall short, and here they did. All he could do was hold her and listen.

"I had to take down the furniture... The decorations in her nursery. I had to empty out the chest my mom bought for her clothes. I had to give the diapers away to a neighbour who was heavily pregnant. I donated the baby bath to the hospital... The clothes went to a local children's home."

Daryl's eyes closed as she told him how she got rid of her baby's toys and furniture. He had no idea how she'd managed to do that. He couldn't imagine how hard that must've been. The pain she must've felt was hard to imagine, as was the loss she must've been feeling. He heard her sob and it caused his throat to constrict. He'd never felt like this before about anybody. He was hurting because she was hurting. He was sad because she was sad. He needed to hold her and to comfort her. He needed to take care of her, and those needs were overpowering, almost. Overwhelming, especially.

"Don't upset yourself anymore." He whispered, squeezing her hand, "Don't make yourself relive it."

"I always prayed for answers." Elise replied, "Answers as to why it happened. I need to know why she was taken from me. What did I do?"

"Hey. You never did anything that would make you deserve that." Daryl snapped, causing her gaze to snap up to meet his fiery one, "Ever."

"What if it was the way she was conceived...?" Elise breathed, looking away from him, "I always wondered if..."

"Elise, you were raped!" Daryl hissed, not wanting the others to hear, "You were violated in the worst way I can think of! You really believe God took your daughter 'cause of that?"

"I don't know! I just wish I knew why..." The young woman let out a mournful sob, "What did I do to make Him mad enough to take her away from me..."

"Stop this." Daryl told her, "Stop. Torturing yourself isn't going to help you heal. You've never grieved properly for her, have you?"

"No." Elise replied, looking at him with tearful eyes, "I just didn't give myself the chance to grieve. I buried myself in my studies... I spent every spare moment I had in the library or on the archery field... Hell, I even took sleeping pills to knock myself just so I didn't have to think about her. Then, my parents died... And I had to grieve for them too."

Daryl's expression softened as he wiped away her tears with his thumbs, pulling her towards him and cradling her head to his chest. He quietly hushed her as they rested back against the bed again, his arms around her as he held her tightly. He'd take that pain for her in an instant. He quickly realised how he was changing as a person, and how he'd do anything to stop her hurting the way she was. It scared him that he was growing so attached to her.

"I'm sorry, Daryl." She breathed, hiccuping as another sob rolled through her.

"Don't be." He told her, "You ain't got nothing to be sorry for. Just get some rest, okay? Go to sleep."

He waited for her crying to subside and her breathing to even out, and then he closed his eyes to fall asleep once again.

* * *

Daryl awoke the next morning to find the opposite side of the bed empty. It was only dawn but the soft snores coming from outside the door made him realise that the others were probably asleep. He figured Elise had taken over from whoever had been on watch, so he got out of bed, being sure to make it up so it looked tidy. He stretched as a yawn escaped his lips before quietly making his way out of the bedroom and stepping past the others towards the RV door.

Carefully, he exited the RV, not wanting to wake anyone, and he slowly climbed onto the roof, finding Elise sitting there with a guitar sitting on her lap, which she was quietly tuning up. Sitting next to her, Daryl brushed a strand of hair from her face, noticing the serene smile that was on her lips.

"Morning." She said softly, plucking the strings of the guitar gently, "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine." Daryl answered, "What are you doing up here?"

"Couldn't sleep." She told him, "Dale found this in one of the cars... I told him I play. I haven't heard music for so long."

She turned the keys to tune the guitar, and quietly she began to pluck the strings before playing a chord quietly. Her eyes were swollen and red from her tears the night before, but the dark circles beneath them revealed how tired she really was. Her cheeks were pale, as were her lips, and her hair was hanging over her shoulders in a mess of curls. In the sunrise, despite her tired state, she looked beautiful. She glowed.

"How long have you been out here?" Daryl asked her, noticing the goosebumps on her arms, and the shivering of her thinning frame, "You're cold..."

"I'm fine." She replied, continuing to pluck at the guitar strings as her man moved to grab the blanket that lay behind her, discarded, "I've been here for a while."

Daryl gently put the blanket around her shoulders, kissing her head as he wrapped her up in it. He watched her shudder a little as she pulled the blanket tighter around herself, and she let out a soft laugh.

"Guess I was colder than I thought." She chuckled, moving over to kiss his lips, "Thank you."

Their lips met in soft kiss and Elise carded her hands into his hair, the blanket almost falling from her shoulders. Daryl was there to stop it falling, and he gently raised it back over her and pulled it tighter around her body, moving her further into his arms.

"You know we'll be heading to that farm soon." He whispered to her, "You can get some more rest then..."

"No, I have to help you find Sophia." Elise said quietly, "I can't just sit around while you guys go looking."

"Let's just get to the farm before we decide anything else." Daryl told her, gathering her in his arms and setting her in his lap, "I always liked sunrise."

"Shall we watch this together then?" She asked him, earning a soft smile and a nod from her man, who kissed her gently before she rested her head on his shoulder to watch the arrival of a new day.

* * *

The journey to the farm had been mercifully short. Elise didn't want to be cooped up in the RV all day on the road, especially since she wasn't feeling too good. Throwing up always made her feel ill for a while, even so much as a few days. She leaned her head out of the window, taking deep breaths of the morning air.

"You gonna be sick?" Dale asked her as they pulled up to the farm.

"I don't think so." She answered, sighing with relief as they came to a stop, "Anyway, I wanna see how Carl is before we even think of doing anything else."

The woman who'd saved Andrea on horseback was standing outside the white house, with more people the others had never seen before. Then, out of the front door came their own group. Rick and Lori looked worn and tired. T-Dog was in much better shape, and his arm looked a lot better than the day before. Glenn smiled at them as he saw them, which made the others happy, and Shane had apparently shaved his head. Elise didn't even know how he'd done it, and it didn't suit him at all, but her eyes moved quickly from him and to Lori and Rick.

"How is he?" Dale asked, watching the smile to cross the pale face of Rick.

"He'll pull through." Lori said, clearly rather emotional but happy, "Thanks to Hershel and his people."

"And Shane." Rick added, "We'd have lost Carl if not for him."

Shane looked rather small in the clothes he was wearing and it was pretty obvious that they weren't his. He didn't look like himself at all actually, especially with the new haircut. He looked quite embarrassed by Rick talking about him, and was uneasy that everyone's eyes were suddenly on him.

With that, the group wasted no time in greeting each other. Elise went and wrapped her arms around T-Dog and Glenn, squeezing them tightly to her before moving to Lori and then Rick. Carl had been shot in a hunting accident. That was all it was, but he was going to make it and that was the important thing.

* * *

It was clear that a sacrifice of human life had been made in order to get the medical supplies needed for Carl. A man named Otis who was married to the older woman at the house, Patricia. So, a service was held for him later that day, which the group attended. Even Daryl went to pay his respects, which Elise didn't think he would've done. He had his hand in hers the whole time too, in front of everyone. It comforted her. She felt for Patricia, who was clearly very distraught, so Daryl squeezed her hand to reassure her when he saw her getting upset. Elise bowed her head to hide her face, not wanting anyone to see the state she was trying to stop herself getting into.

"Blessed be God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Hershel spoke as the family put stones on the grave they'd marked for Otis.

Daryl saw Elise close her eyes in prayer and he felt her hand tighten around his, so he returned his gaze to the ground, allowing her to pray in peace. She didn't want to let his hand go, so he kept a hold of hers throughout.

"Praise be to Him for the gift of our brother, Otis. For his span of years, for his abundance of character." Hershel continued, speaking passionately for the deceased man, "Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset."

At those words, Elise's hand gripped Daryl's even tighter. The mention of children set the emotions off in Elise, particularly when it came to children's lives being at risk. She'd wanted another baby so much. More than anyone could've realised. And the pain of being without Amelia was always so hard to bear. It hurt every day, not having her there to hold and to care for. It always caused her the worst pain.

"We thank you, God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace." Hershel continued, looking over at the auburn haired woman as she turned herself to lean into the man next to her, "He died as he lived. In grace."

As Elise pressed her cheek to Daryl's shoulder, she looked over at Shane whose mind was clearly somewhere else. She wondered what he was thinking of. He had been with Otis when he died, after all, and it was clear that it had a profound effect on him. He was haunted by it. Elise could see it in his eyes.

"Shane?" Hershel asked, his white hair being caressed gently by the warm breeze, "Will you speak for Otis?"

"I'm not good at it." The man mumbled, clearly upset, "I'm sorry."

"You were the last one with him." Patricia said with a quaking voice, "You shared his final moments. Please... I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning."

"Okay..." Shane breathed, eyes clouded with tears.

"I don't think Shane wants to speak in front of everyone like this."

Everyone's eyes snapped towards Elise, who was now moving away from Daryl in order to comfort the upset man. Shane's eyes shifted to hers, his expression one of helplessness and utter distress. She felt for him. No-one should be made to speak like that in front of others, especially not in the condition Shane was in.

"Maybe you'd rather hear that in private, Patricia..." Elise suggested, earning a glare from the grieving woman.

She put a comforting hand on Shane's back and began to rub it gently, trying to soothe him. She felt how shallow and fast his breathing was, and she believed he'd been traumatised by what had happened. To make him speak publicly in this state would be cruel.

"He's clearly too upset to speak, and you shouldn't force him to. He was there and saw how your husband died. No-one should have to talk about something like that so openly if they don't wish to." She continued, speaking softly to Patricia, her eyes never moving from the widow's, "Your husband's death had meaning because it was to save Rick and Lori's little boy. That's meaning enough. That's pretty damn honourable. Knowing that he gave his life to save a child should bring you peace enough. Shane can tell you what happened later, away from everyone else's ears."

"Very well." Hershel said quietly, giving Elise a grateful nod before doing the same to the upset man, "Thank you, Shane."

Shane just nodded in return and looked to Elise with gratitude, only for her to wrap her arms around him. She whispered words of comfort into his ear, which caused Daryl to stiffen next to Glenn. The hunter looked at Shane over Elise's shoulder and glared at the other man. Shane just stared right back, his eyes darkening at the sight of Daryl watching them. The younger man despised it that Shane was sniffing around his girl, even more so when she was falling into his trap. Something wasn't right with Shane, and Daryl had this feeling that he might have had something to do with Otis's death.

Unfortunately, Elise was oblivious to the suspicion weighing on the minds of some of the others. When the young woman released the ex-cop, she carefully made her way back to Daryl, noticing how tense he was as she reached his side. She gave him a look of confusion, following the direction of his glare. Was Daryl seriously getting jealous because she'd comforted Shane that way? She'd noticed the pair sharing the occasional glare whenever she was around, but it hadn't really caused her any concern. She just thought they were being their usual angry selves, but now she was getting worried.

What the hell was going on with the two of them, and how on earth did it involve her?

-TBC-

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**Hope you enjoyed! **

**Thanks for reading so far!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	25. Down On The Farm

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _The Walking Dead _or its characters. I only own Elise Young.

**A/N: **Again, I apologise for the delay in updates. My personal life's taken a bit of a beating. My boyfriend and I are going through a really tough time together and my family is also going through a lot of trials, and I have been really unwell with stress. So, I'm so, so sorry for the lack in updates and I will try to get back into updating regularly. I haven't forgotten about this fic!

**ShadowXMoonlight: **Thanks so much! Sorry the wait's been so long! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Equal-Opportunity-Reader: **I'm sure Daryl may punch Shane at some point. I can arrange that for you, if you wish!

**shika93: **As always, thanks for the support!

Happy reading!

xxxxxxxxxxx

* * *

**Can't Make It Alone**

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Down On The Farm**

After the service, the group began to make a strategy for finding Sophia.

Elise was just moving some things from the RV into the tent she'd be sharing with Daryl, so the hunter took the opportunity to approach Rick and Hershel, who were talking near the steps of the farmhouse. He didn't want to have this conversation, but he was doing it for Elise. Well, also for himself and his own peace of mind. He didn't want her getting hurt.

"Can I have a minute?" He asked as the other men turned to him expectantly, and he scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably as he turned to look back at Elise, who was happily talking to Carol and Lori, "She can't go out there today..."

"What makes you say that?" Rick asked him, earning an incredulous look from the other man.

"Have you looked at her? She's white as a sheet..." Daryl watched Rick and Hershel exchange a look as he spoke, "She's had the shakes since last night."

Rick had never heard Daryl sound so worried before. He'd never seen him look so concerned. But Elise was more than capable of making her own decisions about whether she should go out on the search for Sophia or not. He knew Daryl was looking out for her, but Rick wasn't sure if this was Daryl's choice to make.

"She's weak, not to mention exhausted. She's sick..." He continued, looking at Rick with almost pleading eyes "She'll tell you she's fine, but she hasn't slept. She threw up half her guts last night, man... I don't want her out there. She barely eats. She doesn't sleep. It's making her ill, Rick. I don't wanna send her out there and have her get even worse."

"Is this true?" Hershel asked Rick, "She doesn't eat?"

"It's been a hard week for everyone." Rick explained, "Food hasn't been her priority. She hasn't been able to stomach it. Daryl's had to force her to at least eat something, but then we've come close to a walker, and she's not used to being so up close and personal with dead bodies. She just throws it all back up."

"She'll be dehydrated..." Hershel said, "If her food isn't settling and staying down, it's going to get harder for her to eat and take sustenance from her meals. I think she needs to stay here and rest. We have food that can maybe settle her stomach. She wouldn't last in this heat."

"Well, good luck telling her that." Rick replied with a grimace, "She's a stubborn woman. Not to mention the most skilled woman here. She'll want to be out there with Daryl."

"Well, I don't want her out there, and if I have to say that to her..." Daryl began, only to be cut off by Rick.

"Be careful how you approach this situation." The ex-cop warned him, "You don't want to make her feel any worse than she's going to when we tell her."

"So, it's agreed? She ain't going?" Daryl asked, looking between the two men.

"She ain't going." Hershel confirmed, watching the younger man's shoulders sag with relief as he gave them both a nod of thanks, "I'll be the bearer of bad news."

* * *

About a half hour later, Hershel Daryl, Rick, Shane, Andrea and Elise stood around the hood of a car, while the others continued to set up camp in front of the farmhouse. Daryl didn't like it that Elise was in between himself and Shane. He didn't want the ex-cop getting any ideas about trying it with his girl. He possessively wrapped an arm around her waist, tugging her into his side, which earned him a rather angry glare from the woman in question. He was dreading her reaction when Hershel was going to tell her she couldn't go out to find Sophia.

"How long has this girl been lost?" Hershel asked them, noticing Maggie approaching from his right with maps in her hand.

"This'll be day three." Rick explained, looking to the group who were all losing hope by the minute.

Elise watched the young woman arrive beside them, and she carefully spread the maps across the car hood. The two had only just recently been introduced properly, and Maggie seemed like a headstrong girl, but she was nice enough to talk to. Maybe she and Elise would make friends. Friends were what everyone needed in times like these.

"County survey map. Shows terrain and elevations." Maggie explained, weighing the map down with small rocks.

"This is perfect..." Rick breathed, "We can finally get this thing organised. We'll grid the whole area. Start searching in teams."

"Not you. Not today." Hershel said sternly, earning a shocked look from Rick, "You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out."

His eyes then moved to Shane's. The search effort was going to have to be carried out by others, without the group's main leaders. Elise swallowed down the growing nausea in her stomach in an attempt to try and 'man up'. She'd have to go out there, since she was the most skilled person in the group besides Daryl.

"And your ankle." Hershel told Shane, "You push it now, you'll be laid up a month. No good to anybody."

Shane grimaced and ducked his head, shooting a look of annoyance at Andrea who looked over at Elise, earning a soft frown from her. If only the ex-teacher knew what was coming next.

"And you, Elise." Hershel then turned to the young woman, startling her, "You're sickly pale. You don't look like you can hold yourself up much longer. Those dark circles under your eyes... That's exhaustion."

"I'm fine, Hershel." Elise said, ducking her head, "When I vomit, the phobia and the process my body goes through make me feel ill for a while after is all. It's nothing."

"No, no..." Hershel stopped her, "You need rest. You're not going anywhere until you get your strength up. You'll also be dehydrated from vomiting, and in this heat, you'd also be at risk of passing out."

"N-No..." Elise stammered, a grimace plastering itself onto her face, "Please! I have to go! I have to help! We're already two men down!"

"There are concerns for your health, Elise. We can't have you going out there and getting sick." Hershel said quietly, trying to reason with her as his eyes flitted to Daryl, who couldn't look at the young woman, "People are worried about you."

Elise's face suddenly twisted into an expression of rage and hurt as she turned to Daryl, grabbing him harshly by the arm and spinning him round to face her. Her body shook, not just with the weakness but with her anger as well. How dare he try and make a decision like this for her? How dare he tell Rick that she wasn't capable of going out there? He looked guilty as sin. He couldn't even look her in the face. She wasn't upset that he was worried for her, but that he'd gone behind her back without even asking if she was okay.

"You!" She yelled, attracting the attention of the others in camp, "How could you? After everything we've talked about, Daryl! You know how much I need to help with this!"

"You can barely stand up, Elise!" He yelled louder than her, "You're sick, and getting sicker!"

"What, do you think I can't look after myself or something? Or that I'd slow you down?" She snarled, willing the tears away that threatened to fill her eyes, "How dare you make this kind of decision for me? Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"I'm the man who's gotta watch you slowly going from bad to worse because you're too fucking stubborn to realise that you're killing yourself!" Daryl was practically screaming now, "I never wanted it to come to this, but I don't want you going out there! I don't! And if that means I gotta tie you to a fucking tree to make you stay behind, I'll do it! You ain't goin' out there today, tomorrow or the day after! You hear me?!"

His words stung her like she'd been attacked by a thousand bees. She stared up at him, her eyes now overflowing with tears as three or four escaped down her pale face. Angrily, she clenched her jaw and turned away from him, walking back towards the RV with a hand pressed against her stomach. Daryl watched her go, scrubbing a hand over his face.

* * *

"Elise?"

Wiping her face, Elise looked up at the sound of Shane's voice outside the tent she and Daryl were supposed to be sharing. She didn't really know if she wanted to sleep next to him at that moment. She was so angry with him and so hurt that he'd been that way with her.

"Can I come in?"

"S-Sure..." Elise stammered, opening the tent flap enough to let him in, "What is it?"

"First off, I wanna make sure you're alright." Shane spoke slowly and quietly, "I know Daryl was harsh, but he's just trying to look after you."

"None of you have any right to tell me whether or not I'm fit to go out there. I wanna help." Elise answered, grimacing and breaking into tears again, "I don't feel well, but that doesn't mean I can't help."

"This argument is between you and Daryl. You guys have to figure this out." Shane said softly, touching her arm gently, "Listen, I need your gun. Hershel doesn't want guns on his property, so I'm gathering them up."

Elise didn't question him. She just passed him the gun in silence and looked back to her knees, running a hand into her hair as he put the gun in the bag he had. Shane stayed for a few moments, watching her brow crease up again as the upset began to hit her once more.

"Keep your chin up." He said quietly, "I'll give you some peace."

In the distance, Daryl saw Shane exiting the tent that he and Elise were supposed to be sharing. It made him anxious that the ex-cop was sniffing around like that, and as much as he knew he should, he didn't really want to talk to her just yet. She'd made it quite clear how upset she was with him. He spotted Glenn and Hershel's daughter Maggie talking under the trees, and he approached the pair, his crossbow slung over his back. He had an idea of how to start making it up to his girl. The thought behind a gift might just bring him back into her good books. Just a little.

"Glenn?"

The Korean man turned to look at him, eyebrows knotted together with confusion. Daryl never came to speak to him personally. Daryl scared Glenn. He was a guy who was pretty badass and usually scowling about something. To see him looking this calm was pretty worrying. Glenn wondered what was going on, although he kind of guessed Daryl was worried about Elise. The whole camp had witnessed their screaming match earlier.

"You're doing a pharmacy run, right?" He asked, watching Glenn's look of confusion change into an expression of horror.

"Oh, no... You haven't run out already..." He breathed, causing Daryl's face to turn bright red.

"What? No! I didn't even know you'd found..."

"Yeah, Elise has them." Glenn was shocked at Daryl's embarrassment about the condoms Elise had asked him to find.

"Some pharmacies sell make-up right?" The older man asked, earning a nod from Glenn, "Can you look for some nail varnish or something? A nice colour..."

"For Elise, I'm assuming." Glenn replied, earning an incredulous glare from Daryl, "Sure."

"Is this to make up for earlier?" Maggie asked, "You guys really got into it."

"She deserves something nice so..." Daryl said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "I gotta get out and look Sophia. Elise likes bright colours so... I guess a bright colour would be best."

"Sure." Glenn said with a nod, earning one of thanks from Daryl who turned on his heel and headed away.

The hunter didn't realise that Rick was sitting on the steps to the porch of the farmhouse, and when he called him, it startled him a little. Rick figured Daryl felt a little useless at that moment. Elise wasn't speaking to him and he probably thought he had no-one else to talk to. Rick was happy for him to busy himself with looking for Carol's daughter.

"You okay on your own?" The ex-cop asked, noticing the shock on Daryl's face.

Since when did the others start giving a damn about him? He'd always been a stupid redneck to them. A bad-tempered, mean, selfish asshole. Maybe it was the fact that he'd been looking for Sophia relentlessly. Maybe.

"I'm better on my own." Daryl called back, "I'll be back before dark."

"What do I tell Elise?" Rick asked, "She's gonna be worried about you."

"Nah, she ain't." Daryl replied with a shrug, "I pissed her off. Hurt her feelings. She ain't gonna give a damn."

"Of course she is." Rick answered with a small smile, "You did what you did for her sake. She'll realise that when she's calmed down."

"Nah." Daryl's voice was much quieter, "Look, I gotta get moving."

"Hey..." Rick's voice was also much quieter as he approached the redneck, "We got a base. We can get this search properly organised now."

"You got a point or are we just chatting?" Daryl asked, trying to hide the hurt he felt over the argument with Elise.

"My point is, it lets you off the hook." Rick replied calmly, trying not to be irritated at the sudden change of Daryl's attitude, "You don't owe us anything."

"My other plans fell through." Daryl said quickly, turning on his heel and heading away.

* * *

"Hey, Elise? You need anything from the pharmacy?"

Elise snapped her head up as Lori poked her head through the flap in the tent. Lori's expression softened as Elise's clear distress reminded her of the shouting match between her and Daryl earlier. She climbed inside with a piece of paper in her hand, passing Elise the pencil she had with her. Lori had her own issues to worry about, but she needed to know that Elise was okay.

"I'm sorry for the trouble, Lori." The auburn-haired woman whispered as she wrote down the few items she needed, "I don't know why Daryl felt the need to make decisions for me. But he shouldn't be allowed to take that control over me."

"He wasn't controlling you. He was worried about you." Lori answered softly, "He doesn't care about much, but he cares about you. We're all worried, Elise. We all know you're ill."

Elise just nodded and thanked Lori for her time before asking her to leave. About ten minutes passed before another person was outside the tent asking for her, and Elise had just about had enough of having her time being intruded upon like that. She wanted time to think. Maybe she was better off leaving. Going where people wouldn't be interrupting her all the time and interfering with her life. The shadow on the tent door made her snarl to herself quietly.

"What is it?" She snapped, watching Shane's head appear doorway of the tent.

The ex-cop studied the young woman's beautiful face, but her was undeterred by her snapping and her upset. They needed her help by one of the farm's wells. He simply ignored her anger and gave her a small smile.

"We have a problem..."

* * *

Approaching the well that had gotten everyone so excited, T-Dog, Dale, Andrea, Lori, Shane, Glenn and Elise all peered inside to see what the fuss was about. A growling came from the well, and Elise took it upon herself to take the flashlight from Dale and shine it down there. The well was rather deep, and it wasn't clear what was making the growling noise, although they all could guess.

"Shane... I need your muscles." She said with a grin, "Yours too, T. I need you guys to hold onto my waist and legs... Just let me lean down further in there to see what's going on."

"Are you insane?" Dale asked, "That could be a walker."

"It is a walker, no doubt." Elise replied, "But I need to check its condition. It's probably starving and desperate for food, but if I can tell what condition it's in, we might get a better idea of how to get it out of there. So, Shane? T? If you'd do the honours."

Shane took Elise's waist and T-Dog got down on one knee, grabbing hold of Elise's left thigh. The young woman took a deep breath and leaned herself forward, feeling T-Dog's other hand move to support her lower leg. Their grips were tight, and Shane also held onto her arm for some leverage. She was almost totally in the well when she finally got to see the walker in question.

"Okay, we have a swimmer..." She spoke slowly, "The body is very bloated, so getting it out of there might be a problem. I'll be astounded if it hasn't contaminated the water supply. You can lift me out now."

Shane and T-Dog managed to haul her out until her feet were touching the ground, and she gripped onto Shane as he helped her back upright. Andrea scowled a little while Lori looked away, and Shane took longer than expected to let go of Elise. T-Dog, Glenn and Dale all looked confused at the reactions of Andrea and Lori, but listened to Elise regardless.

"We can't shoot it. If it hasn't contaminated the water already, blowing it's brains out will definitely do so." She said, spotting Maggie approaching, "We're gonna need some rope. It's just getting it out of there that's gonna be a problem. We can try and entice it onto the rope with something, maybe some meat or even fruit. If it's hungry enough, it'll eat whatever's waved in front of it."

"We should send a rope down and then maybe some meat tied to something else..." Shane suggested, "Maybe fishing line if there's any around?"

Within five minutes, Maggie had a huge chunk of meat tied to a fishing line, and Shane and Dale lowered the rope, and fishing line into the well. The walker simply looked at the meat and continued to growl softly, not taking it at all. Shane looked to Elise, almost in awe of the woman's cleverness so far.

"So what now?" He asked her, not deterred by the current problem.

"I think that maybe the meat was a bad choice." Elise bit her lip and ran a hand over her face, "We need live bait. If something's kicking and screaming, the walker's bound to want it. Glenn? I need you, buddy."

"Why can't you go?" Glenn asked, mortified.

"Because, you're swifter than me. Sharper. Not as clumsy." Elise was trying to sweeten him up, and it caused the others to smirk, especially when she led him away to whisper to him, "Look, do you want Maggie to think you're a coward?"

"No!" Glenn whispered harshly, "But... It's a walker, for God's sake!"

"You've faced hundreds of walkers, Glenn." Elise whispered, "You're brave. You're Batman."

"Did you really just say that?" Glenn asked her incredulously.

"Say it. Say, _I'm Batman_. Say it." Elise urged him, her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm Batman." Glenn muttered after an eye-roll and a sigh, earning a grin from the former teacher.

"Atta boy."

So, the group got it together to discuss how they would use Glenn to get the walker out of the well. The best option seemed to be getting a length of rope, tying part of it to Glenn and making a tight lasso for the walker, then trying to somehow winch them up and out of the well. The only question was, how could they do it without risking Glenn being eaten or killed?

-TBC-

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed!  
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**Thanks for reading so far!**

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